upper story

Idioms and Phrases

The head or brain, as in He's not all there in the upper story . This expression transfers the literal sense of a higher floor in a multistory building to the top portion of the human body. Richard Bentley used it in A Dissertation on the Epistles of Phalaris (1699), where he compares a man with “brains ... in his head” to a man who has “furniture in his upper story.”

Example Sentences

Standing outside the city hospital, Karim El Baridi said his uncle was being treated for broken ribs after leaping out of an upper story for fear his building would collapse.

From Reuters

Shortly after midnight, a motorcyclist passing by noticed smoke coming from an upper story and alerted guards.

From Seattle Times

After the dam breach, the family piled into a boat to get to safety in the upper story of a neighbor’s three-story home.

From New York Times

Because the ground story has already been weakened by a missing wall — where the garage door sits — and is top-heavy because it’s overlaid by an upper story, this type of house is called a soft-story home.

From Los Angeles Times

But even the electrical fire that gutted the upper story and forced closure of the restaurant for two years while repairs were done could not kill Off Vine.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• head
• intellect
• mind