upstairs

• up stairs, up-stairs (archaic)

up- +‎ stair +‎ -s

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌʌpˈstɛɹz/, /ˈʌpˌstɛɹz/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌʌpˈstɛəz/, /ˈʌpˌstɛəz/
• Hyphenation: up‧stairs

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)z

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.

• upstairs-downstairs

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.

• downstairs

upstairs (plural upstairs)

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