Upon vs Against - What's the difference?
upon | against |
Being above and in contact with another.
:
*{{quote-book, year=1899, author=(Hughes Mearns)
, title=
, passage=Yesterday, upon the stair / I met a man who wasn’t there / He wasn’t there again today / I wish, I wish he’d go away …}}
Being directly supported by another.
:
:
Being followed by another so as to form a series.
:
At a prescribed point in time.
:
.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5
, passage=Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, the consciousness dawning upon him that his eccentricity was not receiving the ovation it merited.}}
*
*:Little disappointed, then, she turned attention to "Chat of the Social World," gossip which exercised potent fascination upon the girl's intelligence.
Being the target of an action.
Incidental to a specified point in time or order of action; usually combined with here-, there- or where-.
A close but separated relationship.
#In a contrary direction to.
#:
#Close to.(rfex)
#:
#*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5
, passage=We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine.
#In front of; before a background.
#:
#In physical contact with.
#:
#In physical opposition to, or in collision with.
#:
#*{{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Michael Arlen), title=
, passage=Ivor had acquired more than a mile of fishing rights with the house?; he was not at all a good fisherman, but one must do something?; one generally, however, banged a ball with a squash-racket against a wall.}}
A contrasting or competitive relationship.
#In contrast and/or comparison with.
#:
#In competition with, versus.
#:
#*
#*:“[…] it is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons ! Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.”
#*{{quote-news, year=2011, date=September 24, author=Aled Williams, work=BBC Sport
, title= #In opposition to.
#:
#*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4
, passage=Mr. Cooke at once began a tirade against the residents of Asquith for permitting a sandy and generally disgraceful condition of the roads. So roundly did he vituperate the inn management in particular, and with such a loud flow of words, that I trembled lest he should be heard on the veranda.}}
#*{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author=
, title= In exchange for.(rfex)
As counterbalance to.(rfex)
As a charge on.(rfex)
As protection from.
:
*{{quote-journal, year=1988, date=March 1, author=Caroni, Pico, coauthors=Schwab, Martin E. , title=Antibody against myelin associated inhibitor of neurite growth neutralizes nonpermissive substrate properties of CNS white matter, journal=Neuron
, passage=Monoclonal antibodies were raised against these proteins: IN-1 and IN-2 bound both to the 35 kd and 250 kd inhibitors and to the surface of differentiated cultured oligodendrocytes.}}
(lb) Exposed to.(rfex)
In anticipation of; in preparation for (a particular time, event etc.).
*, II.11:
*:He wrote to a friend of his, that he lived but with browne bread and water, and entreated him to send him a piece of cheese, against the time he was to make a solemne feast.
(obsolete) By the time that (something happened); before.
* , II.ix:
* 1749 , Henry Fielding, Tom Jones , Folio Society 1973, p. 6:
In opposition to something.
(gambling) Having a specified likelihood of not winning or happening.
As prepositions the difference between upon and against
is that upon is being above and in contact with another while against is A close but separated relationship.As adverbs the difference between upon and against
is that upon is being the target of an action while against is in opposition to something.As a conjunction against is
by the time that (something happened); before.upon
English
Alternative forms
* vpon (obsolete)Preposition
(English prepositions)Usage notes
A somewhat elevated word; the simpler, more general term on is generally interchangeable, and more common in casual American speech. In poetic or legal contexts, upon is common.Synonyms
* (all senses) on * (time) atAdverb
(-)- He was set upon by the agitated dogs
- The clock struck noon, whereupon the students proceeded to lunch.
Derived terms
* hereupon * thereupon * whereuponStatistics
*against
English
Alternative forms
* againest (obsolete), agaynst (obsolete), agaynest (obsolete) * agenst (obsolete), agenest (obsolete), ageinst (obsolete), ageinest (qualifier), ageynst (obsolete), ageynest (qualifier), agin (colloquial or humorous)Preposition
(English prepositions)“Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days, chapter=3/19/2
Chelsea 4-1 Swansea, passage=The breakthrough came through Torres who, pilloried for his miss against Manchester United a week earlier, scored his second goal of the season.}}
David Van Tassel], [http://www.americanscientist.org/authors/detail/lee-dehaan Lee DeHaan
Wild Plants to the Rescue, volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist), passage=Plant breeding is always a numbers game.
citation
Synonyms
* (in competition with) versusAntonyms
* for * withConjunction
(head)- Thence she them brought into a stately Hall, / Wherein were many tables faire dispred, / And ready dight with drapets festiuall, / Against the viaundes should be ministred.
- He now gave Mrs Deborah positive orders to take the child to her own bed, and to call up a maid-servant to provide it pap, and other things, against it waked.