on one's uppers

English

Etymology

From uppers (“the top part of a leather shoe”), having worn through the sole.

Adjective

on one's uppers

1. destitute; poor.
   • 1902, Guy Wetmore Carryl, How a Cat Was Annoyed and a Poet Was Booted

     “We are bound toward the scuppers,

     And the time has come to act,

     Or we’ll both be on our uppers

     For a fact!”