From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishupperup‧per1 /ˈʌpə $ -er/ ●●● W2 adjective [only before noun] 1 HIGHin a higher position than something else OPP lower the upper lip2 TOPnear or at the top of something OPP lower the upper floors of a building There is an upper age limit for becoming a pilot.3 → have/gain the upper hand4 HIGH POSITION OR RANKmore important than other parts or ranks in an organization, system etc the upper echelons (=the most important members) of corporate management5 SGFARfurther from the sea or further north than other parts of an area the upper reaches of the Nile → a stiff upper lip at stiff1(11)
DCCthe top part of a shoe that covers your foot leather uppers2 → uppers3 → be on your uppers
Examples from the Corpus
upper• His upper arms were like tree trunks.• Most meteorites do not make it through Earth's upper atmosphere.• People had climbed into the upper branches of the tree to escape the rising waters.• The upper classes were synonymous to him with the greatness of his country.• Strings of paraffin lamps gleam along the upper decks and dance in the inky water.• Gunmen were firing machine guns from the upper floor of the hospital.• An investment firm occupies the upper floors of the building.• Only two small colonic polyps were found in patients who had an upper gastrointestinal lesion.• upper-income consumers• He already had a light growth of hair on his upper lip.• I am wearing my bear claws and flying into the upper regions with the thunderbirds.• He pulled out his upper right-hand desk drawer and felt for the packet of bills.• They had the wedding in the big upper room that occupied the whole of the second floor of their Auntie's pub.• Competition is keen and candidates must offer a minimum of an upper second class honours degree together with evidence of satisfactory financial arrangements.• A child was wailing on one of the upper stories.• Several of her upper teeth were missing.upper echelons• Not until ten o'clock for the upper echelons.• Not the upper upper echelons, but Digby level echelons.• But the greater the prestige and reputation of an institution, the more it will recruit from the upper echelons of society.• There were also wide-ranging personnel changes in the upper echelons of the armed forces and the police.• The nobility of Savoy was also closely linked to the upper echelons of the clergy.• This insoluble predicament was the source of the decay, corruption and mounting tension evident within the upper echelons of the regime.• Small is beautiful Predictably, the smaller building societies figure prominently in the upper echelons of the result tables.upper reaches• Clearly therefore the clouds do not consist of water, at least not in their upper reaches.• He started with the upper reaches of government and the bureaucracy.• Eventually, of course, you will want to go for the upper reaches of naval accomplishment: world domination.• Of particular interest is the area around the upper reaches of the Aver known as the Moot.• Certainly, he had abundant connections to the upper reaches of the company hierarchy.• For a sixty-year-old man in the upper reaches of the legal profession, that was pathetic.• And even the long dried out upper reaches of the Pang are flowing ... just ... but more is required.upperupper2 noun [countable] 1 DCCthe top part of a shoe that covers your foot leather uppers2 → uppers3 → be on your uppersExamples from the Corpus
upper• Slip lasting has uppers sewn together under the insole.• Padded ankle collar and rand to protect base of uppers.• Board lasting glues the uppers to an insole board before being attached to the midsole, again designed for stability.• Three uppers for $ 225, $ 75 bucks apiece.Origin upper1 (1200-1300) up 