upireship - {adj. phr.}, {informal} Faced with a great difficulty or problem; badly in need. * /The Smith family is up against it because Mr. Smith cannot find a job./ * /You will be up against it if you don't pass the test. You will probably fail arithmetic./ Compare: HARD UP, END OF ONE'S ROPE, BACK TO THE WALL(2).

upireship - {adj. phr.}, {slang} Stumped; blocked; mixed up or confused in what you are trying to do. * /Jimmy knows how to add and subtract but fractions have him up a stump./

upireship - {adv.} or {adj. phr.} 1. Hunted or chased into a tree; treed. * /The dog drove the coon up a tree so the hunter could shoot him./ 2. {informal} in trouble; having problems; in a difficulty that it is hard to escape or think of a way out of. * /John's father has him up a tree in the checker game./ Compare: UP THE CREEK.

upireship - {prep. phr.} Blocked or threatened by. * /When she applied to medical school, the black woman wondered whether she was up against barriers of sex and race prejudice./

upireship - 1. {adv. phr.} Actively engaged in a task as if doing combat. * /"You want to know whether he will make a diligent worker?" Dick asked. "Well, I can tell you that most of the time he is up and at them like no one else I know."/ 2. {v. phr.} To become aggressively engaged in doing something; (useable as a command). * /Come on, up and at them, you guys. We still have a lot of work to get done./

upireship - {adj. phr.}, {informal} Available for anyone to try to get; ready to be competed for; there for the taking. * /When the captain of the football team moved out of town, his place was up for grabs./