ups and downs
n. phr. Vicissitudes; alternating periods between good and bad times; changes in
fortune. He is now a wealthy stock trader, but at the beginning of his career he, too,
had many ups and downs.
Up \Up\, n.
The state of being up or above; a state of elevation,
prosperity, or the like; -- rarely occurring except in the
phrase ups and downs. [Colloq.]
Ups and downs, alternate states of elevation and
depression, or of prosperity and the contrary. [Colloq.]
They had their ups and downs of fortune.
--Thackeray.
27 Moby Thesaurus words for "ups and downs":
Lissajous figure, alternation, back-and-forth,
chain of circumstances, chain reaction, chapter of accidents,
coming and going, concatenation of events, ebb and flow,
feast and famine, flux and reflux, ins and outs, reciprocation,
rhythmic play, seesaw, seesawing, sine wave, teeter, teeter-totter,
teeter-tottering, teetering, to-and-fro, tottering, vicious circle,
vicissitudes, vicissitudes of fortune, wigwag
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