phrases, sayings, idioms and expressions at

"hard upon you"

Posted by R. Berg on June 22, 2001

In Reply to: "Hard upon you" posted by Jonny Lever on June 22, 2001

: Hi!

: What does "when someone is hard upon you" mean?
: In the first place is there a phrase "hard upon"?

: Thanks in advance.

Yes, there is. The Oxford English Dictionary defines "hard upon (on)" as "close before or after so as to press upon." Example: "It was now hard upon three o'clock" . For one person to be hard upon another in a literal sense would require some such setting as a footrace where two runners are close together on the track and the one behind is closing the gap. The phrase might apply figuratively to a business competitor, for instance, or to a detective hot on somebody's trail. I don't know whether the dictionary meaning fits the context where you found the phrase, though.

© 1997 – 2024 Phrases.org.uk. All rights reserved.