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Glite Dictionary
to choose up sides

to choose up sides

1 5.2
Divide people into two teams by picking players one after another
  • phrasal verb
  • Archaic
translation icon : elegir equipos
  • Before the game starts, the players will choose up sides to form their teams.

Examples

  • After everyone arrived, it was time to choose up sides and begin the basketball game.

  • We were choosing up sides.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • "So you chose up sides, huh, kid?" From the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of movement.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • When you choose up sides for war, both are nameless.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • We'll choose up sides.

    Fandango (1985)

  • The children choose up sides and begin their spirited soccer match at the park.

Synonyms

to choose up
vsto choose up sides
  • Archaic
1 7.0

To pick teams or sides for a game

involves picking players alternately to form two groups
to choose up teams
vsto choose up sides
  • Archaic
1 4.4

Divide a group into two teams by taking turns picking people

has identical meaning but uses a different phrase

Antonyms

to combine
638 2.7

To mix two or more things into one

to merge
192 3.2

To join two or more things so they become one

Surface Forms

choose up sides infinitive
choosing up sides present participle
chooses up sides third person singular
chose up sides past
chosen up sides past participle

Morphology

choose + up + side

The core meaning is largely recoverable from 'choose' (select) + 'sides' (teams/parties), so a learner who knows those words will likely infer it involves picking teams. However, the particle 'up' adds a distributive/completive nuance and the fixed phrasing 'choose up sides' is somewhat colloquial/idiomatic, so the exact pragmatic sense (selecting players alternately to form teams) may not be fully predictable without exposure.

Etymology

The phrase choose up sides comes from schoolyards where children line up and take turns to choose players for each side, with up showing the action of putting the teams together. That's why it means 'to divide into two groups or teams'.