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Webster 1913 Edition


Upset

Up-set′

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To set up; to put upright.
[Obs.]
“With sail on mast upset.”
R. of Brunne.
2.
(a)
To thicken and shorten, as a heated piece of iron, by hammering on the end.
(b)
To shorten (a tire) in the process of resetting, originally by cutting it and hammering on the ends.
3.
To overturn, overthrow, or overset;
as, to
upset
a carriage; to
upset
an argument.
“Determined somehow to upset the situation.”
Mrs. Humphry Ward.
4.
To disturb the self-possession of; to disorder the nerves of; to make ill;
as, the fright
upset
her
.
[Colloq.]

Up-set′

,
Verb.
I.
To become upset.

Up′setˊ

,
Adj.
Set up; fixed; determined; – used chiefly or only in the phrase upset price; that is, the price fixed upon as the minimum for property offered in a public sale, or, in an auction, the price at which property is set up or started by the auctioneer, and the lowest price at which it will be sold.
After a solemn pause, Mr. Glossin offered the
upset
price for the lands and barony of Ellangowan.
Sir W. Scott.

Up′setˊ

,
Noun.
The act of upsetting, or the state of being upset; an overturn;
as, the wagon had an
upset
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Upset

UPSET'

,
Verb.
T.
[up and set.] To overturn; to overthrow; to overset; as a carriage.

Definition 2024


upset

upset

English

Adjective

upset (comparative more upset, superlative most upset)

  1. (of a person) Angry, distressed, or unhappy.
    He was upset when she refused his friendship.
    My children often get upset with their classmates.
  2. (of a stomach or gastrointestinal tract, referred to as stomach) Feeling unwell, nauseated, or ready to vomit.
    His stomach was upset, so he didn't want to move.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

upset (countable and uncountable, plural upsets)

  1. (uncountable) Disturbance or disruption.
    My late arrival caused the professor considerable upset.
  2. (countable, sports, politics) An unexpected victory of a competitor or candidate that was not favored to win.
    • 2011 January 8, Paul Fletcher, “Stevenage 3 - 1 Newcastle”, in BBC:
      But it is probably the biggest upset for the away side since Ronnie Radford smashed a famous goal as Hereford defeated Newcastle 2-1 in 1972.
    • 2016 March 9, Harry Enten, “What The Stunning Bernie Sanders Win In Michigan Means”, in FiveThirtyEight:
      Sanders’s win in Michigan was one of the greatest upsets in modern political history.
  3. (automobile insurance) An overturn.
    "collision and upset": impact with another object or an overturn for whatever reason.
  4. An upset stomach.
    • 1958 May 12, advertisement, Life, volume 44, number 19, page 110 :
      "Bob, let's cancel the babysitter. With this upset stomach, I can't go out tonight.
      "Try Pepto-Bismol. Hospital tests prove it relieves upsets. And it's great for indigestion or nausea, too!"
  5. (mathematics) An upper set; a subset (X,≤) of a partially ordered set with the property that, if x is in U and x≤y, then y is in U.

Synonyms

Translations

Verb

upset (third-person singular simple present upsets, present participle upsetting, simple past and past participle upset)

  1. (transitive) To make (a person) angry, distressed, or unhappy.
    I’m sure the bad news will upset him, but he needs to know.
  2. (transitive) To disturb, disrupt or adversely alter (something).
    Introducing a foreign species can upset the ecological balance.
    The fatty meat upset his stomach.
  3. (transitive) To tip or overturn (something).
    • 1924, W. D. Ross translator, Aristitle, Metaphysics, Book 1, Part 9, The Classical Library, Nashotah, Wisconsin, 2001.
      But this argument, which first Anaxagoras and later Eudoxus and certain others used, is very easily upset; for it is not difficult to collect many insuperable objections to such a view.
  4. (transitive) To defeat unexpectedly.
    Truman upset Dewey in the 1948 US presidential election.
  5. (intransitive) To be upset or knocked over.
    The carriage upset when the horse bolted.
  6. (obsolete) To set up; to put upright.
    • R. of Brunne
      with sail on mast upset
  7. To thicken and shorten, as a heated piece of iron, by hammering on the end.
  8. To shorten (a tire) in the process of resetting, originally by cutting it and hammering on the ends.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams