upon

[ uh-pon, uh-pawn ]

preposition

1. up and on; upward so as to get or be on:

   He climbed upon his horse and rode off.

2. in an elevated position on:

   There is a television antenna upon every house in the neighborhood.

3. in or into complete or approximate contact with, as an attacker or an important or pressing occasion:

   The enemy was upon us and our soldiers had little time to escape. The Christmas holiday will soon be upon us and we have hardly begun to buy gifts. The time to take action is upon us.

4. immediately or very soon after:

   She went into mourning upon her husband's death.

5. on the occasion of:

   She was joyful upon seeing her child take his first steps.

6. on (in any of various senses, used as an equivalent of on with no added idea of ascent or elevation, and preferred in certain cases only for euphonic or metrical reasons):

   He swore upon his honor as a gentleman.

upon

/ əˈpɒn /

preposition

1. another word for on
2. indicating a position reached by going up

   climb upon my knee

3. imminent for

   the weekend was upon us again

Word History and Origins

Origin of upon¹

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English; up (adverb) + on (preposition)

Word History and Origins

Origin of upon¹

C13: from up + on

Idioms and Phrases

see act on (upon) ; call on (upon) ; chance on (upon) ; come across (upon) ; come on (upon) ; count on (upon) ; dawn on (upon) ; dwell on (upon) ; enter on (upon) ; fall back on (upon) ; fall on (upon) ; grow on (upon) ; hard on (upon) ; hit on (upon) ; incumbent upon ; light on (upon) ; once upon a time ; pitch on (upon) ; play on (upon) ; put upon ; seize on (upon) ; set at (upon) ; take it upon oneself ; wait on (upon) ; weigh on (upon) ; work on (upon) .

Example Sentences

Once upon a time, it was possible to believe Donald Trump would set aside rancor and lies and be a president for us all.

From Los Angeles Times

"Upon further scrutiny of the video, the investigation determined the bear was actually a person in a bear costume," the department said in a press release.

From BBC

"I put the plan to them and they accepted it as a serious proposal, but it is one they need to go away and think about and consult upon," he said.

From BBC

Once upon a time, we all understood this.

From Salon

The two Army officers that Trump pardoned included one accused of killing a suspected Afghan bombmaker and another who was convicted of murder for directing men to fire upon three Afghans.

From BBC