sit-upn.adj.
/ˈsɪtʌp/, U.S. /ˈsɪdəp/ A. n.† 1. A surprise. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > surprise, unexpectedness > [noun] > feeling of surprise
startc1330
sit-up1483
glopa1500
stonishment1594
startle1603
surprisal1652
surprise1686
shock1705
turn1845
jolt1884
1483 in J. B. Sheppard Christ Church Lett. (1877) 46 I trow..thai shal have a sit up or ever the Kyng departe fro York.
2.
a. An act of sitting up.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > action or fact of sitting > [noun] > an act of > up
sit-up1843
1843 ‘R. Carlton’ New Purchase I. ix. 64 She sung out the ordinary summons: ‘Well! come, sit up.’ This sit-up we instantly performed—as well, at least, as we could.
1975 D. R. Anderson et al. Instructional Programming for Handicapped Student 683 The student should then do a sit up or pull his elbows under him, push up to his hands, and then into a sitting position.
1998 S. J. Taunton & C. S. Smith Trick is in Training ii. 6 The sweep of your hand up and back over the dog's head to lure him into a Sit up.
b. A physical exercise designed to strengthen the abdominal muscles, in which a person raises the upper half of the body from a supine position into a sitting position without using the arms for leverage.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > gymnastics > exercise > [noun] > specific exercises
breathing1605
breather1802
arm swing1859
setting-up drill1862
grasshopper march1884
lunge1889
push-up1897
sit-up1900
pull-up1901
deep-breathing1904
bag-punching1927
press-up1928
setting-up exercise1935
pullover1936
bear crawl1937
burpee1939
knee-bend1941
leg raise1944
dip1945
uddiyana1949
squat thrust1950
lateral1954
pull-down1956
aquacise1968
step-up1973
abdominal crunch1981
power walking1982
crunch1983
gut-buster1983
stomach crunch1986
1900 Sporting Times 3 Nov. 2/1 You may talk about the Yanks, With their slim and crouching pranks,..But there's something in the Sit-ups, after all!
1971 A. A. Michele You don't have to Ache 93 Do five to ten sit-ups in a curling fashion bringing your body straight forward. Then do five sit-ups twisting your body to the left, and five twisting your body to the right.
2010 S. F. Aughtmon My Bangs look Good xxi. 159 I have to do crunches and sit-ups and bicycle kicks and all the things one does to tone and flatten and strengthen one's stomach muscles.
B. adj.
Designed to allow a person to sit upright; designating something against which, or at which, a person may sit upright.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > action or fact of sitting > [adjective] > used to lean against while sitting > for sitting up in
sit-up1891
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > chair > [adjective] > types of chair
caned1696
rush-bottomed1696
rush-bottom1729
roundabout chair1741
leather-bottomed1783
stick-back1783
poker-backed1830
flag-bottomed1840
claw-footed1858
seatless1871
cane-bottomed1877
cane-seated1881
sag-seated1890
sit-up1891
slat-back1891
sag-bottomed1893
spindle-back1896
shield-back1897
Carver1902
basket-bodied1903
panel-back1904
Cromwellian1905
hooped-back1906
saddle-backed1910
hard-arsed1933
sling-back1948
X-frame1955
hard-arse1964
the world > space > relative position > posture > action or fact of sitting > [adjective] > used to lean against while sitting
sit-up1960
1891 F. Helmore Mem. Rev. T. Helmore xxx. 129 Sitting on one easy chair, with his feet in another, the two being made into a ‘sit-up bed’ by his devoted nurse, Mrs. Adams.
1902 M. Barnes-Grundy Thames Camp 178 The lounge chairs are canvas, the sit-up chairs are rush seated.
1950 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 1 Aug. 266/1 Baby sit-up Cushion.
1960 Times 16 Mar. (Canberra Suppl.) p. v/4 A tavern, with a sit-up bar.
2002 C. Kelly Just between Us (2006) 416 She would not give up her enormous rolltop bath for some old-lady shower thing with a sit-up bath.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1483