▶ it dawned on me/him that ... 我/他逐渐(漸)意识(識)到 ... wǒ/tā zhújiàn yìshi dào
draw on
( resources draw upon 凭(憑)借 píngjiè ⇒ The company drew on its vast resources to fund the project. → 公司凭借其大量的资源为这个项目提供资金。 Gōngsī píngjiè qí dàliàng de zīyuán wèi zhège xiàngmù tígōng zījīn.
look on
( watch ) 旁观(觀) pángguān
to decide on or upon sth
( choose ) 决(決)定某事 juédìng mǒushì
row upon row/layer upon layer of
一排排的/一层(層)层(層)的 ... yī páipái de/yī céngcéng de ...
build on
( fig : success etc ) 建基于(於) jiànjī yú ⇒ We must build on the success of these industries. → 我们必须依靠这些企业的成功。 Wǒmen bìxū yīkào zhèxiē qǐyè de chénggōng.
count on
( support, help ) 指望 zhǐwàng
to base sth on or upon sth
以某物作为(為)某物的根据(據) yǐ mǒuwù zuòwéi mǒuwù de gēnjù
to feast one's eyes (up)on sb/sth
尽(盡)情观(觀)赏(賞)某人/某物 jìnqíng guānshǎng mǒurén/mǒuwù
to prevail upon sb to do sth
说(說)服某人做某事 shuōfú mǒurén zuò mǒushì
to be conditional on or upon sth
视(視)某事而定 shì mǒushì ér dìng
Christmas/the football season is upon us
圣(聖)诞(誕)节(節)/足球赛(賽)季就要来(來)了 Shèngdàn Jié/zúqiú sàijì jiù yào lái le
look down on
轻(輕)视(視) qīngshì
to take it on or upon o.s. to do sth
将(將)做某事的责(責)任揽(攬)到自己身上 jiāng zuò mǒushì de zérèn lǎndào zìjǐ shēnshang
hit (up)on
( solution ) 灵(靈)机(機)一动(動)地想出 língjīyīdòng de xiǎngchū
In addition to the uses shown below, upon is used in phrasal verbs such as 'come upon' and 'look upon', and after some otherverbs such as 'decide' and 'depend'.
1. preposition
If one thing is upon another, it is on it.
[formal]
He set the tray upon the table.
He bent forward and laid a kiss softly upon her forehead.
I imagined the eyes of the others in the room upon me.
2. preposition
You use upon when mentioning an event that is followed immediately by another event.
[formal]
The door on the left, upon entering the church, leads to the Crypt of St Issac.
Upon conclusion of these studies, the patient was told that she had a severe problem.
3. preposition
You use upon between two occurrences of the same noun in order to say that there are large numbers of the thing mentioned.
Row upon row of women surged forwards.
I looked across the mountains, ridge upon ridge.
4. preposition
If an event is upon you, it is just about to happen.
The long-threatened storm was upon us.
The wedding season is upon us.
They had to conserve the candles now with winter upon them.
upon in British English
(əˈpɒn)
preposition
1. another word for on
2.
indicating a position reached by going up
climb upon my knee
3.
imminent for
the weekend was upon us again
Word origin
C13: from up + on
upon in American English
(əˈpɑn; əˈpɔn)
preposition
1.
on (in various senses), or up and on
on and upon are generally interchangeable, the choice being governed by idiom, sentence rhythm,etc.
adverb
2.
on
used only for completing a verb
a canvas not painted upon
3. Obsolete
on it; on one's person
4. Obsolete
thereupon; thereafter
Word origin
ME < up, up1 + on, on, prob. infl. by ON upp á (< upp, upward + á, on)
More idioms containing
upon
cast your bread upon the waters
Examples of 'upon' in a sentence
upon
The day of reckoning for the free press will soon be upon us.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
Soon it will be upon us and at last we can get back into our shorts.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
And surely the answer is upon us.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Most large companies have taken the latter route, layering software platform upon platform.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The long, dark nights of winter are upon us.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Call it what you will, it is upon us.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
But with the hol nearly upon us, we have some solutions.
The Sun (2016)
I barely blinked and they were upon us.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Autumn is almost upon us.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
It has instead been the foundation stone upon which layers of experience have been carefully grafted.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Who decided to inflict more of this upon us?
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
As we dug ourselves in we found them in layers stacked one upon the top of another.
Kishlansky, Mark A. (editor) Sources of the West: Readings in Western Civilization, Volume 1: From the Beginningto 1715 (1995)
What a cataract of disaster has poured out upon us since then.
Kishlansky, Mark A. (editor) Sources of the West: Readings in Western Civilization, Volume 1: From the Beginningto 1715 (1995)
The reps encouraged us to complain upon our return as they felt their views were being ignored.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The importance of nature is forced upon us by extreme stress.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
The heist is upon us in the final part of this drama.
The Sun (2012)
The age of the starlet was upon us.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Thousands of people died in the catastrophe and their bodies were covered up by layer upon layer of ash.
The Sun (2014)
The moment is nearly upon us.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Layer upon layer, back and forth.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
It is a dizzy place, with views that stretch across layer upon layer of mountain ridges.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
The shadow of the 2008 crisis is still upon us but banks have been made significantly safer.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Certainly, their reluctance reflects as much upon us as it does upon them.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
But spring is here now, the fighting season is upon us.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Barely have one's mental sports injuries healed before another supposed epic is upon us.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
I knew then that terrible times were upon us.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
A double failure this week might confirm a new age is truly upon us.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Few people can summon character in crisis that wasn't added layer upon layer throughout the rest of life.
Christianity Today (2000)
They don't understand that taking back our femininity is not the same as having it imposed upon us.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
This is shown most clearly in his own works, which are made from layer upon layer of miniature wooden shingles.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Build them up, layer upon layer, as your life evolves.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
These images are projected on to screens, and the audience projects its own feelings and fantasies on to those images, layer upon layer upon layer.
The Times Literary Supplement (2013)
In other languages
upon
British English: upon /əˈpɒn/ PREPOSITION
Upon means the same as on.
He stood upon the bridge.
American English: upon
Arabic: عَلَى
Brazilian Portuguese: em
Chinese: 在…之上
Croatian: na
Czech: na
Danish: på
Dutch: op
European Spanish: en
Finnish: -llasilla[lla]
French: à
German: auf
Greek: πάνω
Italian: sopra
Japanese: ･･･の上に
Korean: 위에
Norwegian: på
Polish: na
European Portuguese: em
Romanian: pe
Russian: на
Latin American Spanish: sobre
Swedish: på
Thai: บน
Turkish: üzerinde
Ukrainian: на
Vietnamese: ở trên
All related terms of 'upon'
call upon
come upon
If you come upon someone or something, you meet them or find them by chance .
draw upon
hit upon
look upon
to think of ( as ); consider
play upon
To play upon something means the same as to → play on it.
put upon
If you are put-upon , you are treated badly by someone who takes advantage of your willingness to help them.
set upon
If you are set upon by people, they make a sudden and unexpected physical attack on you.
take upon
count upon
frown upon
If something is frowned upon or is frowned on people disapprove of it.
light upon
thrust upon
If something is thrust upon you, you are forced to have it, deal with it, or experience it.
upon my soul!
an exclamation of surprise
upon my word!
on my honour
act on
to regulate one's behaviour in accordance with ( advice , information, etc)
fix on
If you fix on a particular thing, you decide that it is the one you want and will have.
light on
If you light on something or light upon it, you suddenly notice it or find it.
sit on
If you say that someone is sitting on something, you mean that they are delaying dealing with it.
Berwick-upon-Tweed
a town in N England, in N Northumberland at the mouth of the Tweed : much involved in border disputes between England and Scotland between the 12th and 16th centuries; neutral territory 1551–1885. Pop: 12 870 (2001)
Burton-upon-Trent
a town in W central England, in E Staffordshire : famous for brewing . Pop: 43 784 (2001)
Kingston upon Hull
a unitary authority in NE England, in the East Riding of Yorkshire : formerly (1974–96) part of the county of Humberside . Pop: 247 900 (2003 est). Area: 71 sq km (27 sq miles)
once upon a time
Once upon a time is used to indicate that something happened or existed a long time ago or in an imaginary world. It is often used at the beginning of children's stories.
take upon oneself
to take the responsibility for; accept as a charge
(upon) my word!
indeed! really !
call on
If you call on someone to do something or call upon them to do it, you say publicly that you want them to do it.
dawn on
If a fact or idea dawns on you, you realize it.
dwell on
to think , speak , or write at length
enter on
to begin ; set out on; start
fall on
If you fall on something when it arrives or appears, you eagerly seize it or welcome it.
feed on
to take as food; eat
hang on
If you ask someone to hang on , you ask them to wait or stop what they are doing or saying for a moment .
hit on
If you hit on an idea or a solution to a problem , or hit upon it, you think of it.
lean on
If you lean on someone or lean upon them, you depend on them for support and encouragement.
look on
If you look on while something happens , you watch it happening without taking part yourself.
on oath
under the obligation of an oath
pitch on
to determine or decide
seize on
If you seize on something or seize upon it, you show great interest in it, often because it is useful to you.
trade on
If someone trades on something, they make use of it for their own advantage, often in an unfair way.
wait on
If you are waiting on something, you are waiting for it to happen , for example before you do or decide anything.
work on
to persuade or influence or attempt to persuade or influence
Kingston upon Thames
a borough of SW Greater London , on the River Thames : formed in 1965 by the amalgamation of several former boroughs of Surrey ; administrative centre of Surrey. Pop: 150 400 (2003 est). Area: 38 sq km (15 sq miles)
Newcastle upon Tyne
a port in NE England in Newcastle upon Tyne unitary authority , Tyne and Wear, near the mouth of the River Tyne opposite Gateshead : Roman remains ; engineering industries , including ship repairs ; two universities (1937, 1992). Pop: 189 863 (2001)
Richmond-upon-Thames
a borough of Greater London , on the River Thames : formed in 1965 by the amalgamation of Barnes , Richmond , and Twickenham ; site of Hampton Court Palace and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew . Pop: 179 200 (2003 est). Area: 55 sq km (21 sq miles)
Staines-upon-Thames
a town in SE England , in N Surrey . Pop: 50 538 (2001)
Stratford-upon-Avon
town in S Warwickshire , England, on the Avon : birthplace & burial place of Shakespeare : pop. of county district (called Stratford-on-Avon ) 106,000
think on (or upon)
to give thought or consideration to
border on
If you talk about a characteristic or situation bordering on something, usually something that you consider bad , you mean that it is almost that thing.
chance on
to come upon by accident
count on
If you count on something or count upon it, you expect it to happen and include it in your plans .
Chinese translation of 'upon'
upon
(əˈpɔn) (frm)
prep
在 ... 上面 (zài ... shàngmian)
upon doing sth在做某事之时(時) (zài zuò mǒushì zhī shí)
Christmas/the football season is upon us圣(聖)诞(誕)节(節)/足球赛(賽)季就要来(來)了 (Shèngdàn Jié/zúqiú sàijì jiù yào lái le)
row upon row/layer upon layer of一排排的/一层(層)层(層)的 ... (yī páipái de/yī céngcéng de ... )