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ups and downs
plural noun
- rises and falls of fortune; good and bad times:
Every business has its ups and downs.
ups and downs
plural noun
- alternating periods of good and bad fortune, high and low spirits, etc
Word History and Origins
Origin of ups and downs1
Idioms and Phrases
Good times and bad times, successes and failures, as in We've had our ups and downs but things are going fairly well now . This term was first recorded in 1659.Example Sentences
He has had many ups-and-downs, but his motto has been, "Try and continue trying and you will succeed at last."
He has shared the ups-and-downs of frontier struggles, always a faithful supporter of the Methodist church.
All arbitrary goings to-and-fro, all idle fancies, all accidental ups-and-downs of emotion must be forbidden in the same way.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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