up and

phrase

informal

: to do something specified in a sudden and unexpected way

(U.S.) One day, he just up and left home.

Then she ups and marries some guy she'd just met.

One day, he just upped and left home.

Examples of up and in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The mediator does an intense workout taking the offers and counteroffers between the parties, up and down an elegant staircase that separates the teams. — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 9 Oct. 2026

Records show the school was billed $2,170—a relative pittance in the grand scheme of things—for a six-man crew from a local moving company to box up and relocate Moore’s belongings during the 43-hour window of his incarceration. — Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 8 Oct. 2026

The Bulls needed two kneel-downs to end the game, but the wet ball slipped out of the quarterback’s hands and the Dolphins’ Cameron Brown picked it up and ran 98 yards for the winning score. — Mike McGraw, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026

Blame belongs up and down the lineup as well as directed at the fallibility of human calf muscles. — Hannah Keyser, CNN Money, 8 Oct. 2026

Rhymes for up and

• armband
• backhand
• bandstand
• baseband
• broadband
• command
• cropland
• demand
• disband
• dreamland
• expand
• farmhand