get someone's back up en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Meanings
-
(idiomatic) To annoy or anger someone.
Telling someone that her child can and should be doing better and not offering some solutions immediately gets my back up.
1970, James N. Casavis, Principal's Guidelines for Action in Parent Conferences, →ISBN, page 121:That joke really got my boss's back up.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| gets someone's back up | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| gotten someone's back up | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | US | lexicographic |
| getting someone's back up | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| got someone's back up | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | UK | lexicographic |
| got someone's back up | Tense=Past | lexicographic |