bang-up

See also: bang up

English

Adjective

bang-up (comparative more bang-up, superlative most bang-up)

1. (colloquial) Especially good; wonderful; superb.
   • 1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861:

     It is true that certain kinds of documents, especially sham hawkers’ licenses, may be had in the provinces, at prices suited to the importance of their contents, or to the probable gains of their circulation; but all the ‘regular bang-up fakes’ are manufactured in the ‘Start’ (metropolis), and sent into the country to order, carefully packed up, and free from observation.

   • 1922, Edith Wharton, The Glimpses of the Moon‎^[1]:

     […] he had dined with the Hickses ("a bang-up show -- they're really lances-you wouldn't know them!"), and had met there Lansing […]

   • 1988, Janice Holt Giles, The Enduring Hills‎^[2]:

     “When we get to Nashville, let's find some nice place to eat, and let's have the best bang-up chicken dinner in town!”

   • 1995 October 14, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes (comic):

     Hobbes: But then the aliens take over the Earth.
     Calvin: Well, it's not like the grownups have done such a bang-up job.

Synonyms

• (especially good): awesome, impressive, outstanding, smashing