stopped up
1
5.1
- phrasal verb
- /ˈstɑːpt ʌp/
:
tapado
- I couldn't sleep last night because my sinuses were stopped up due to allergies.
Examples
-
Her nose was stopped up from the cold, making it hard for her to breathe.
-
Even when they weren't sick, their faces were flushed and puffy, and their noses were stopped up.
Fiction book (1991) -
Tonight is my Tuesday night class, and though that episode was days ago (God, I hope the neighbors didn't see), I still feel stuffy and stopped up and somewhat swollen.
Fiction book (1993) -
"The stopped-up nose, the itchy feeling, the slight fever—who cares?" he said, and waved a hand.
Fiction book (1999) -
After the flu, he complained that his nose felt stopped up for several days.
Synonyms
2
5.3
A nose that is blocked so air cannot pass easily
A nose that is blocked so air cannot pass easily
Closed so nothing can pass through, for example a nose or road
Blocked or full so nothing can pass through
Blocked so air or water cannot pass easily
Stopped so nothing can pass through, like a pipe or a blood vessel
Antonyms
How Blocked
Surface Forms
Morphology
stopped + up
The meaning 'blocked' is directly derivable from 'stopped' (to cease movement or flow) combined with the particle 'up' which commonly signals completion/intensification or an obstructing effect. This phrasal adjective follows a regular English composition pattern (e.g., 'clogged up', 'plugged up') and a B1 learner who knows the constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The adjective stopped up comes from the simple image of something being stopped by a plug so nothing can pass up or through, like a pipe or a nose blocked with mucus. That's why stopped up means 'blocked' or 'congested'.