cheek up to

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English

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Etymology

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See cheek (impudence, impertinence).

Verb

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cheek up to (third-person singular simple present cheeks up to, present participle cheeking up to, simple past and past participle cheeked up to)

  1. (transitive, informal) To act disrespectfully toward (someone).
    Synonym: cheek up
    • 2001 November 17, Muriel Spark, All the Stories of Muriel Spark, New Directions Publishing, →ISBN, page 44:
      She thought of her sister Elizabeth with her eight, and remembered that one who cheeked up to the teachers, so pretty and sulky and shabby, ...
    • 2012 March 20, Muriel Spark, Reality and Dreams: A Novel, Open Road Media, →ISBN:
      I suppose the nursing home was glad to get rid of him. He made passes at the youngest nurses and cheeked up to the older ones.