A Phrase: up to something or somebody

up to something

a) as much or as many as a certain amount or number but not more.

b) (also up till) for the whole of a period until a certain time or date.

c) [in questions and negatives] clever, good, or well enough to do something.

d) if something is up to a particular standard, it is good enough to reach that standard.

e) (spoken) doing something secret or something that you should not be doing.

to be doing something, often something bad or illegal, usually secretly.

The Olympic Stadium will hold up to 80,000spectators.

a process that can take anything up to ten days

She continued to care for her father up to the time of his death.

We’ve kept our meetings secret up to now.

I’m afraid Tim just isn’t up to the job (=he does not have the necessary ability).

You don’t need to go back to school if you don’t feel up to it.

He’s not really up to seeing any visitors.

I didn’t think last night’s performance was up to her usual standard.

The children are very quiet. I wonder what they’re up to.

He knew Bailey was up to something. But what?

I always suspected that he was up to no good (=doing something bad).

She's up to no good (= doing something bad or forbidden) - you can always tell because she stays in her room.

He looks very suspicious hanging around by the bins - I'm sure he's up to something.

during the time or period before

Up to this point, we have been discussing our long-term goals.

Up to [=until] that time they had been fairly successful.

be up to somebody

a) used to say that someone can decide about something.

b) used to say that someone is responsible for a particular duty.

to be the responsibility of someone.

- used to say who is responsible for making a choice or decision.

You can pay weekly or monthly – it’s up to you.

It’s up to the travel companies to warn customers of any possible dangers.

It's up to the manager to make the final decision.

“Do you want Chinese food tonight or Italian?” “It doesn't matter to me, so it's up to you.”

The amount of your donation is entirely up to you.

It is up to you to decide.