Dictionary

walk-up en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈwɔkʌp/

Etymology

Deverbal from walk up. (northern flicker): Imitative of the bird's call.

Meanings

1. (not-comparable, of an apartment etc) Reached by stairs rather than an elevator.
2. (not-comparable, of a block of apartments) Containing such flats.
3. (not-comparable, of a service) For which no appointment is necessary.

Forms

Synonyms

walk-in

walk-up en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈwɔkʌp/

Etymology

Deverbal from walk up. (northern flicker): Imitative of the bird's call.

Meanings

1. (US) An apartment or block with stairs rather than an elevator.
   • They took a cab and climbed the four flights to Sasha's Lower East Side walk-up. 2010, Jennifer Egan, “Found Objects”, in A Visit from the Goon Squad:
   • I became the tenant of a walk-up on East Tenth Street, on the north side of Tompkins Square, found for me by the seemingly omni-connected Ian McEwan […] 2010, Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22, Atlantic, published 2011, page 228:
2. An informal visit to a control tower by a pilot, typically used as part of pilot training.
   • Pilot walk-ups welcomed for real-time satellite and radar weather imaging information. 1993, Flying Magazine, volume 120, number 10, page 33:
3. A mountain that can be climbed without specialist equipment.
   • Western mountains are easy walk-ups. Eastern mountains are hard crawl-ups, but no oxygen problems. 2009, Richard Norgaard, Controlling Your Future: Six Steps To A Better Life, page 97:
4. A customer who arrives without a reservation; a walk-in.
   • The first hour is for walk-ups only, with one foursome per hour reserved for walk-ups as well. 2015, Paul Laubach, Confessions of a Golfaholic, page 205:
5. An indoor or outdoor stand where food is sold to the public.
   • Soba is […] making appearances everywhere from street food walk-ups to fine dining restaurants. 2021, Katie Takayasu, Plants First, page 266:
6. Colaptes auratus, northern flicker.
7. (qualifier:especially bass) A sequence of notes that raises in pitch stepwise, connecting two or more chords.
8. A place where one can approach by walking, as a walk-in.
   • There is a walk-up window at the post office.

Forms