See also: up stairs and up-stairs

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From up- +‎ stair +‎ -s.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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upstairs (comparative further upstairs, superlative furthest upstairs)

  1. Located on a higher floor or level of a building.
    They can sleep in the upstairs bedroom.
  2. (baseball, informal) Pertaining to a pitched ball that is high, and usually outside the strike zone.
    That fastball was upstairs for a ball.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Adverb

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upstairs (comparative further upstairs, superlative furthest upstairs)

  1. Up the stairs; on a higher floor or level.
    I’ll take my shoes and put them away the next time I go upstairs.
    I hate the people who live upstairs, and I especially hate their piano.
    • 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XX, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. [], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, [], published 1842, →OCLC, page 255:
      There was more dancing and singing up stairs, more wit and conversation below; all were at liberty, and all stayed late; and all talked so much of the happiness they had enjoyed, that Lady Anne felt herself exceedingly tempted to give another party before the season finally closed.
    • 1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter IV, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented [], volume I, London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., [], →OCLC, phase the first (The Maiden), pages 40–41:
      In a large bedroom upstairs, the window of which was thickly curtained with a great woollen shawl lately discarded by the landlady, Mrs. Rolliver, were gathered on this evening nearly a dozen persons, all seeking vinous bliss; []
    • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
      Marsha, let’s go upstairs!
      Audio (US):(file)
    • 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68:
      On arrival at Birmingham New Street, I make my way upstairs to the mezzanine to get shots of an almost deserted concourse, polka-dotted with social distancing circles like some strange board-game.
  2. (informal) In the brain or mind.
    After Joe did a hula dance on the kitchen table, his friends wondered if he didn’t have a lot going on upstairs.
  3. (informal) In heaven, especially with regard to where a deity might be found.

Antonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Noun

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upstairs (plural upstairs)

  1. An upper storey.
  2. (slang, euphemistic) A woman's breasts.