walk-up

American  

[wawk-uhp] / ˈwɔkˌʌp /

noun

1. an apartment above the ground floor in a building that has no elevator.

2. a building, especially an apartment house, that has no elevator.

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adjective

1. located above the ground floor in a building that has no elevator.

2. having no elevator.

3. accessible to pedestrians from the outside of a building.

   a walk-up teller's window at a bank.

walk-up British  

noun

1. informal

   1. a block of flats having no lift

   2. ( as modifier )

      a walk-up block

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Etymology

Origin of walk-up

1915–20, noun, adj. use of verb phrase walk up

Example Sentences

Peter Goss, an agent with Corcoran Icon Properties who listed the Pacific Heights eight-flight walk-up, has been in San Francisco since 1999.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 15, 2026

Hawaiian Airlines had the highest week-over-week rise for walk-up fares, climbing 13.6%.

From Barron's • Mar. 11, 2026

Church’s was a family business with nine walk-up windows around San Antonio when Bamberger became its head of operations and marketing in 1964.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 4, 2026

Betts has walked out to a varied playlist, but his selections are included here because he can boast of one walk-up tune unmatched in baseball history.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 14, 2025

“Only the strongest, smoothest, wildest hero ever. Rides a crow the size of a Cadillac truck—no, a stretch limo! He even has his own walk-up music—they say drums play when he walks.”

From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia

Related Words

• co-op
• condo
• condominium
• cooperative
• flat
• suite