ʻūpā

See also: Appendix:Variations of "upa"

Hawaiian

Etymology

Related to Māori kupā “to belch, to throw up” (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “How did the same word come to mean both "scissors" and "compass"?”)

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʔuːˈpaː/

Verb

ʻūpā

  1. to open and close the mouth in eating, speaking etc
  2. to chew food
  3. (of bags, bladders etc and their contents) to throb, to inflate and deflate
  4. (of the heart) to beat, to throb
  5. to slam

Noun

ʻūpā

  1. any tool or instrument with a pair of blades or slats that opens and closes
    1. scissors, shears, clippers
    2. pliers
    3. tongs
    4. pair of compasses, technical hinged drawing instrument with a sharp metal point for anchoring and the other with a holder for a pencil or pen to inscribe circles or arcs of an adjustable radius.
  2. any tool that inflates and deflates
    1. bellows

Derived terms

  • ʻupaʻupā (reduplicated form)
  • ʻūpā makani

Further reading

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