send up

noun, verb — 5 senses

send-up

nounalso spelled send-up

/ˈsɛndˌʌp/

Etymology Deverbal from send up.

1

A satirical imitation of a work of art or a genre.

  • The tired storyline, centered on a lesbian couple's search for a sperm donor, is irritatingly spoofish and lacks the subtlety that makes for great send-ups.2006, Darwin Porter, Danforth Prince, Blood Moon's Guide to Gay and Lesbian Film, page 115:
  • Popstar doesn’t quite reach This Is Spinal Tap levels of satire (few things could), but as a send-up of the mores of today’s celebrity-obsessed culture, it largely succeeds.2016 June 2, David Sims, “'Popstar': Celebrity Satire Done Right”, in The Atlantic:
1 more example
  • The animated sitcom, long a magnet for controversy, incurred the wrath of the current US administration for its brutal and graphic send-up of Donald Trump as a petty, micro-penised dictator, as well as parent company Paramount’s cowardly capitulations to him.2025 August 7, Zach Vasquez, “From puppy murder to racist podcasts: South Park’s anti-deportation episode is utterly ruthless TV”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

send up

verb
1

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see send, up.

  • Fears of war sent oil prices up by 10%.
2

To imitate (someone or something) for the purpose of satirical humour.

  • The programme accurately sends up the British Civil Service system at Whitehall.
  • It started out running adverts that sent up the products they were supposed to be promoting. Today you scarcely see an advert that isn't sending up itself.2004 November 18, William Cook, “All in the worst possible taste”, in The Guardian:
1 more example
  • He had more fun co-writing and directing two series for the BBC called Ripping Yarns (1976-79) in which Palin starred as a series of heroic characters in mock-adventure stories, among them Across the Andes by Frog, and Roger of the Raj, sending up interwar literature aimed at schoolboys.2020 January 22, Stuart Jeffries, “Terry Jones obituary”, in The Guardian:
3

US, Slang To put in prison.

  • The judge sent him up for three years.
  • "I guess you're a wise one, all right, but what's the use? I tell you we've got enough on you already to send you up. You might as well talk straight."1913, Rex Stout, Her Forbidden Knight, Carroll & Graf, published 1997, →ISBN, page 161:
4

To cause (something, e.g. sparks) to erupt.

  • Where the metal touched the asphalt, it sent up a shower of sparks.
Derived terms
send-up, sendup

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — authors: page histories for send-up and send up.