Meaning & use
strung up
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Meanings
verbtransitive
Hung high from a rope or cord, either to display something or, in violent punishment, to kill someone by hanging.
Grammar: Past form of string up; the object is hung: he strung up the lights, the lights were strung up.
Patterns
- string someone up
- string something up
Colorful lanterns were strung up across the street for the festival.
In the old story, the thief was strung up from the nearest tree.
The campers strung up their food bags between two pines to keep bears away.
adjectiveafter a verbinformalBritish
Tense, anxious and unable to relax, often because of waiting or pressure.
Grammar: Usually follows be or feel: she was strung up about the results.
Patterns
- be strung up about something
He was all strung up before the interview and could not eat breakfast.
The whole team felt strung up as the final whistle approached.
She gets strung up whenever she has to speak in public.
Common combinations
- strung up in a tree
- Fairy lights were strung up in a tree over the patio.
- strung up by the neck
- The outlaw was strung up by the neck, according to the legend.
- feel strung up
- I feel strung up whenever the phone rings late at night.
- strung up about something
- He was strung up about his exam results.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hung up
- Hung up is plainer for suspending things, but in the slang sense it means obsessed rather than tense.
- uptight
- Uptight describes someone who is stiff and anxious in general, while strung up suggests a temporary state of nerves.
- on edge
- On edge is neutral and common in both countries, and does not carry the rope image.
Opposites
Word family
- string up verb
- the base phrasal verb: to hang by a cord
- string noun
- thin cord
- strung out adjective
- exhausted or stretched thin
- highly strung adjective
- nervous and easily upset by nature
Commonly confused: strung up or strung out? strung up or hung up?
strung up vs strung out
Strung out can mean exhausted or spread over a long period, while strung up focuses on hanging or on nervous tension.
strung up vs hung up
Hung up usually means worried over a small thing or on the phone; strung up refers to hanging from a cord.
Practice
The decorations had been ___ across the hall by the time the guests arrived.
Choose one answer.
The past participle of string is strung, so strung up is correct. Stringed, strong and strunged are not the right forms.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “strung up”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.