up in arms

English

Pronunciation

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Adjective

up in arms (not comparable)

1. (literally) Armed for battle; prepared for or engaged in warfare.
   • c. 1592, William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act IV, Scene 4,^[1]

     March on, march on, since we are up in arms;

     If not to fight with foreign enemies,

     Yet to beat down these rebels here at home.

   • 1769, Oliver Goldsmith, The Roman History, London: S. Baker & G. Leigh, Volume 2, Chapter 18, p. 372,^[2]

     News was brought him, that the Scythians, and barbarous nations of the North, were again up in arms, and invading the empire with furious impetuosity.

2. (idiomatic) Angry; incensed; preparing for a fight.

   The union members are up in arms over threats of pay cuts.

   • 1594, Christopher Marlowe, Edward II, London: William Jones,^[3]

     Lan[caster]. My lord, will you take armes against the king?

     Bish[op]. What neede I, God himselfe is vp in armes,

     When violence is offered to the church.

   • 1728, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, Dublin: John Smith, Volume 3, Book 18, Chapter 5, p. 301,^[4]

     Allworthy was of a cooler Disposition than the good Woman, whose Spirits were all up in Arms in the Cause of her Friend.

   • 2003, David Diamond, “The Way We Live Now: 9-28-03: Questions for Linus Torvalds; The Sharer,” The New York Times Magazine, 28 September, 2003,^[5]

     Is file-sharing, which has the recording industry so up in arms, the “dark side” of open-source attitudes?

Usage notes

• The expression is rarely used in its literal sense in contemporary English.
• "All" may be added as an intensifier at the beginning of the expression, as in:

Her father was all up in arms when we returned late at night.