Meaning & use
horns up
Last updated
Meanings
nounsingularinformalslang
A hand gesture made by raising the index and little fingers while folding the others down, popular at rock and metal concerts.
Grammar: Used mostly with the or as a phrase: throw up the horns up.
Patterns
- throw the horns up
- give someone horns up
The singer gave the crowd horns up, and thousands copied him.
He threw horns up as the band left the stage.
The photographer asked everyone for horns up.
interjectionfixed phraseinformalslang
A cheer or call of approval among metal fans, often said while making the gesture.
Grammar: Said on its own as a shout: Horns up!
"Horns up!" shouted the drummer before the final song.
Horns up, everybody, this next one is a classic.
Common combinations
- throw horns up
- Fans threw horns up during the guitar solo.
- give someone horns up
- The crowd gave the band horns up at the end.
- horns up salute
- The horns up salute is a trademark of the genre.
- horns up in the air
- A forest of horns up in the air greeted the opening riff.
Synonyms and how they differ
- devil horns
- Devil horns names the gesture by its shape and is more widely known, whereas horns up is the fans' own phrase.
- rock on
- Rock on is a spoken cheer without the specific hand gesture.
- metal salute
- Metal salute names the gesture neutrally, while horns up is shorter and more of a shout.
Word family
Practice
At a metal concert, the singer shouts "Horns up!" What does the crowd do?
Choose one answer.
Horns up is a call to make the hand gesture. The other actions do not relate to the phrase.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “horns up”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.