Skip to main content
piss-up

piss-up

1 9.9
A party where people drink a lot
  • noun
  • /ˈpɪs.ʌp/
  • NSFW
translation icon : fiesta de borrachos
  • Anyone looking for a piss-up can usually find one.

And then the day after, yeah, we just had a big piss up in our garden.

Examples

  • I mean, this is not just a big piss up and, you know...

  • As a Libyan, I am sad to say that my compatriots cannot organize a piss-up in a brewery, to use an English colloquialism.

    Blog text (34)
  • Last Saturday, my friends and I organized a piss-up to celebrate my birthday.

  • At the end of the week, the team planned a piss-up to unwind and enjoy some drinks together.

  • After finishing their project, the colleagues had a piss-up to celebrate their success.

Synonyms

booze-up
vspiss-up
  • UK
1 9.0

A party where people drink a lot and have fun

is a heavier session that focuses on very heavy drinking

Antonyms

dry
72 5.7

Not drinking alcohol by choice

6.0

Without a party or celebration

How Heavy

piss-up
  • NSFW
1 9.9
binge
53 5.6
drinkin'
  • Informal
4 9.6
coffee-and-chat
  • Informal
2.5

Surface Forms

piss-up singular
piss-ups plural

Morphology

piss-up = piss + up (semi-transparent) = piss + up

The components 'piss' and 'up' are recognizable, but the resulting slang meaning 'drinking party' is idiomatic and taboo, so not fully predictable for learners.

Etymology

The word piss-up is British slang made from piss (a rude word for 'to pee') and up, which often turns a word into a whole event. A helpful way to remember it is to imagine a wild drinking session so big people might 'pee' themselves, and piss-up now means a heavy, often noisy, drinking party.