Standard Lemma guide

1-up

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈwʌn ʌp/
  • UK: /wɒn ʌp/

1

noun

Meaning 1

An item that grants the player an extra life in the game, staving off game over by one more try.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: video-games

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

In a game with multiple players, an indicator or identifier of player 1.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: video-games

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

"Extra life" sense borrowed from Japanese 1UP(ワンアップ) (wan'appu) and perhaps popularized by Super Mario Bros. (1985); but the term existed earlier in multi-player pinball and other arcade games in the 1960s, where "1Up" and "2Up" were used as flashing notifications to indicate who would play next (or who was "up" next in order). See https://www.inverse.com/gaming/1up-meaning-origin-definition-gaming.

Across languages

Translations

7 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • German: 1-Up — An item that grants the player an extra life in the game, staving off game over by one more try
  • Icelandic: aukalíf — An item that grants the player an extra life in the game, staving off game over by one more try
  • Japanese: 1UP (wan appu) — An item that grants the player an extra life in the game, staving off game over by one more try
  • Japanese: ワンアップ (wan appu) — An item that grants the player an extra life in the game, staving off game over by one more try
  • Korean: 1UP (1-eop) — An item that grants the player an extra life in the game, staving off game over by one more try
  • Korean: 원 업 (won eop) — An item that grants the player an extra life in the game, staving off game over by one more try
  • Swedish: extraliv — An item that grants the player an extra life in the game, staving off game over by one more try