Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (UK Und.) to keep someone waiting.

1873

Sl. Dict.

2. (Aus./N.Z.) to hinder, to impede, to puzzle, to confuse.

1890		Argus 7 June 4/2: This [i.e. a waterfall] ‘stuck us up,’ as they say here concerning any difficulty [Morris].
1902		‘Dads Wayback’ in Sun. Times (Sydney) 2 Nov. 3/1: ‘[T]her depetation thinks they've stuck him up, but they’s much mistook. Yous couldn’t stick up George [etc]’.
1950		(con. 1936–46) K.S. Prichard Winged Seeds (1984) 386: After behavin’ so well last night why does she want to stick us up now?
1988		McGill Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 107/2: stick up to delay, hold up or bring to a standstill.

3. (US) to break an appointment with; to abscond.

1879		‘Autobiog. of a Thief’ in Macmillan’s Mag. (London) XL 503: Now don’t stick me up (disappoint); meet me at six tonight.
1891		C. Roberts Adrift in America 19: Some of his crew had left, and, as he termed it, ‘stuck him up,’ so he couldn’t do a ‘darned thing’ till he got some more.
1969		‘Iceberg Slim’ Pimp 38: I had stuck her up to keep a date in another clump of bushes.