walk-up

American  

[wawk-uhp] / ˈwɔkˌʌp /

noun

1. an apartment above the ground floor in a building that has no elevator.

2. a building, especially an apartment house, that has no elevator.

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adjective

1. located above the ground floor in a building that has no elevator.

2. having no elevator.

3. accessible to pedestrians from the outside of a building.

   a walk-up teller's window at a bank.

walk-up British  

noun

1. informal

   1. a block of flats having no lift

   2. ( as modifier )

      a walk-up block

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Etymology

Origin of walk-up

1915–20, noun, adj. use of verb phrase walk up

Example Sentences

Peter Goss, an agent with Corcoran Icon Properties who listed the Pacific Heights eight-flight walk-up, has been in San Francisco since 1999.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 15, 2026

Hawaiian Airlines had the highest week-over-week rise for walk-up fares, climbing 13.6%.

From Barron's • Mar. 11, 2026

“Our digital sales were still very healthy, indicative of the demand for our brand despite the weather that impacted our walk-up traffic,” Lynch says.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 13, 2026

The son of a 19-year-old unwed mother, Ellison grew up in a modest walk-up apartment on Chicago’s South Side, where he was raised by her aunt and uncle.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 6, 2025

Jimmy and Lorraine lived in a second-floor walk-up.

From "The Dead and the Gone" by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Related Words

• co-op
• condo
• condominium
• cooperative
• flat
• suite