English Idioms - letter U

Idiom	Definition	Usage
ugly duckling	unattractive	She was an ugly duckling when she was a child.
under a cloud	under suspicion	The politician has been under a cloud over the possibility of taking bribes.
under a cloud	depressed	He has been under a cloud since he lost his job.
under cover	in disguise	The detective went under cover to look for the drug dealers.
under fire	being scrutinized	The owner is under fire for poor working conditions at the factory.
under one's belt	completed	He already has enough experience as a manager under his belt.
under one's belt	in his stomach	After he has a big breakfast under his belt, he is ready for work.
under one's breath	quietly	He was talking under his breath in the library.
under one's nose	in an obvious place	He found his wallet under his nose.
under one's own steam	without assistance	He completed the project under his own steam.
under one's thumb	under his control	He is only a salesman but he has his boss under his thumb.
under one's wing	under his care	He took the new employee under his wing.
under the counter	secretly	The drugs are being sold under the counter.
under the hammer	up for sale at an auction	The painting went under the hammer and sold for a very high price.
under the table	in secret and illegally	He paid some money under the table in order to get his product exported into the country.
under the weather	ill	He is feeling under the weather so he is going to bed early tonight.
under wraps	not allowed to be seen	The new car was still under wraps when the auto show started.
unearthly hour	absurdly early	We got up at an unearthly hour this morning so we could get ready to go camping.
until hell freezes over	for an eternity	He said that he would not talk to his friend again until hell freezes over.
up against	in contact with	The ladder was standing up against the tree in the yard.
up for grabs	available	This is a good sale. Everything is up for grabs.
up against	confronted with	He was up against a lot of problems when he went to university.
up and about	recovered	She is now up and about after her injury.
up front	honest	He was up front about the condition of the car.
up in arms	very angry and ready to fight	The villagers were up in arms over the proposal.
up in the air	undecided	It is still up in the air whether or not she will attend college.
up one's alley	something he is good at	Computer programming is up his alley.
up one's sleeve	something kept secret	He probably has something up his sleeve.
upper crust	most famous and importan peoplet	The upper crust of the city are members of this country club.
upper hand	advantage	The union members have the upper hand in the negotiations.
ups and downs	moments of good and bad fortune	He is having a few ups and downs but generally he is doing well.
upset the applecart	ruin the situation	Try not to upset the applecart.
up the creek	in trouble	She is up the creek now that she has lost her homework.
up the creek without a paddle	in trouble and unable to do anything about it	She is up the creek without a paddle now that she failed the class.
up the river without a paddle	in trouble and unable to do anything about it	She is up the river without a paddle now that she failed the class.
up to	as high as	The snow was up to her waist.
up to	secretly planning	She was trying to figure out what he was up to.
up to	the decision of	It is up to his wife whether or not they purchase the house.
up to it	able to do it	They were not sure if he was up to it or not.
up to the job	able to do it	They were not sure if he was up to the job or not.
up to	until	She had not been to Japan up to this year.
up till	until	She had not been to Japan up till this year.
up until	until	She had not been to Japan up until this year.
up to one's ears	very busy	She is up to her ears with the project.
up to par	at the usual level	His work was not up to par and he was asked to quit his job.
up to scratch	at the usual level	His work was not up to scratch and he was asked to quit his job.
up to snuff	at the usual level	His work was not up to snuff and he was asked to quit his job.
up to the mark	at the usual level	His work was not up to the mark and he was asked to quit his job.
up to someone	her decision	It is up to her when it is time to leave.
up to the chin	deeply involved	He has been up to the chin in the project.
used to	accustomed to	She is not used to living in such a big city.
use one's head	think	You should use your head a little more.
use one's bean	think	You should use your bean a little more.
use one's noodle	think	You should use your noodle a little more.
use one's noggin	think	You should use your noggin a little more.
use up	completely use	They had to use up the paper before ordering more.