up the river
6
8.5
- idiom
- Informal
:
estar en problemas
- That's enough incriminating evidence to send Greg Krevske up the river for a good period of time.
- sent up the river
- sold me up the river
- went up the river
Examples
-
Your boyfriend's getting sent up the river.
Fiction book (1999) -
This time, I got sent up the river.
-
But we sent them up the river.
-
Did you send her up the river too?
-
Sold me up the river.
-
Agree to this deal right now, or I'm sending you up the river.
Academic text (2017) -
Dad was sent up the river, Mom had a nervous breakdown, and poor little Adrian ended up in foster care.
-
- He's goin' up the river.
-
You're goin' up the river.
-
If you don't pay your debts, you will find yourself up the river with no way out.
Synonyms
3
9.4
In a difficult situation with no easy way out
1
7.9
Very involved in a difficult situation with too much to do
1
9.9
A very bad situation with no way to fix it
1
9.9
To be in a difficult situation with no way out
Antonyms
How Difficult
- Informal
11
7.4
- Informal
6
8.5
∞
2.9
5
5.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
up + the + river
The literal spatial sense of 'up the river' (being upstream) does not transparently yield the meaning 'in trouble'; a B1 learner who knows 'up' and 'river' would not reliably infer this figurative sense. The phrase functions idiomatically (akin to 'up a creek') and therefore requires cultural or lexicalized knowledge rather than compositional decoding.
Etymology
Up the river likely comes from an old practice of sending prisoners by boat to a prison upriver, so being sent up the river meant you were in serious trouble. That's why today up the river means 'in trouble' or 'in a difficult situation'.