# upstream

Pronunciation: US say "up-STREEM" /ʌpˈstɹim/; UK

## Adjective

1. Pointing or moving against the flow of a current or stream of water; toward the source.
   - Simple: Moving or pointing against the way a river or stream flows, toward where the water comes from.
   - _Their upstream route forced the rowers to fight the river the whole way._
   - _The upstream side of the dam holds back a vast reservoir._
4. Occurring earlier in a chain of events, and typically influencing or causing what comes afterward.
   - Simple: Happening earlier in a process and shaping or causing what comes later.
   - _Upstream factors in the supply chain determined how quickly products reached stores._
   - _Poor upstream design choices created problems throughout the whole system._
5. Describing data moving from the client toward the server.
   - Simple: Sending data from your computer toward the main server.
   - _Engineers measured the upstream throughput from each client node._
   - _An upstream packet travels from the user's device toward the host._
6. Maintained by or associated with the original developers of a piece of software, as distinct from a modified version.
   - Simple: Coming from the people who first made and still manage the software, not a changed copy.
   - _The patch was merged into the upstream branch and shipped to everyone._
   - _Distributors track the upstream project to stay current with security fixes._
8. Relating to the exploration and extraction stages of oil and gas, rather than refining and selling them.
   - Simple: About finding and getting oil and gas out of the ground, not refining or selling them.
   - _The firm sold its upstream assets to focus on refining and retail._
   - _Upstream operations slowed as exploration budgets were cut._
10. Located toward the 5′ end of a DNA molecule, relative to a given gene or position.
   - Simple: Lying toward the front (5′) end of a strand of DNA.
   - _Researchers identified an upstream promoter that regulates the gene's activity._
   - _An upstream enhancer boosted transcription of the downstream gene._

## Adverb

2. Moving against the flow of the current.
   - Simple: In the direction against the flow of a river or current.
   - _The trout darted upstream the moment the heron appeared._
   - _We hiked upstream until we reached the waterfall feeding the creek._

## Noun

3. The section of a river lying toward the source, in the direction against the flow.
   - Simple: The part of a river that is closer to where the water starts.
   - _The upstream of the river was calm compared with the rapids below._
   - _Conservationists fenced off the upstream to protect the spawning beds._
7. The team that originally created and continues to maintain a piece of software.
   - Simple: The people who first made and still manage a piece of software.
   - _The maintainers forwarded the bug report to upstream for a permanent fix._
   - _Upstream accepted the contribution and merged it into the next release._

## Verb

9. To have a patch or library accepted by a software's original developers, so they maintain and distribute it.
   - Simple: To get your code change accepted by the software's main developers so they keep and share it.
   - _The team will upstream the new filesystem code once it passes review._
   - _They upstream their bug fixes regularly to reduce duplicate work._
11. To rise and flow in an upward stream.
   - Simple: To flow or move upward in a stream.
   - _Embers upstream from the campfire whenever the wind gusts._
   - _Steam upstreamed from the kettle's spout in a thin ribbon._

## Origin

Formed from the prefix "up-" combined with "stream."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/upstream (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).