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