put (one's/someone's) back up



Like this video? Subscribe to our free daily email and get a new idiom video every day!

put (one's/someone's) back up

To be or become angry, hostile, defensive, defiant, or irritable, or to instill such a feeling in someone else. John put his back up when his parents brought up the subject of college. Election season always puts my dad's back up.
See also: back, put, up

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
JessamineJES-ə-minEnglish (Rare)
Scholastica-Late Roman
HeadleyHED-leeEnglish (Rare)
AntonAHN-tawn (German), ahn-TON (Russian, Ukrainian), AHN-ton (Finnish)German, Russian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Dutch, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Slovene, Macedo
JoosYO:SDutch
Yelizavetaye-lee-zah-VYE-tah, ee-lee-zah-VYE-tahRussian