to fetch up

Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.

To stop suddenly. This sense of the word is not noticed in the English dictionaries, nor by Webster. We often hear the phrase 'He fetched up all standing,' that is, he made a sudden halt. It is a nautical vulgarism, the figure being that of a ship which is suddenly brought to, while at full speed and with all her sails set.

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