cheek up to

English

Etymology

See cheek (“impudence, impertinence”).

Verb

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.