one-upped; one-upping; one-ups
: to practice one-upmanship on
always trying to one-up each other by buying the latest gadgets
: being in a position of advantage
—usually used with on
He finished his assignment early, which put him one up on me.
Examples of one-up in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Steven Greenhut, Oc Register, 27 Mar. 2026
Kyle is just outing herself as a gossip and is distorting what everyone has to say to try to one-up Dorit in her own life.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 27 Mar. 2026
Two minutes after that, Kössler one-upped the difficulty of Ryan’s through-ball, threading the needle between two Gotham FC defenders to set Flint up for a shot, which was also saved.
—Braidon Nourse, Denver Post, 26 Mar. 2026
Network correspondents scramble to one-up each other.
—Michael Scherer, The Atlantic, 14 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for one-up
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Verb
But the answer isn’t for Republicans to one-up those efforts with their own election-rigging measure.
—Steven Greenhut, Oc Register, 27 Mar. 2026
Kyle is just outing herself as a gossip and is distorting what everyone has to say to try to one-up Dorit in her own life.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 27 Mar. 2026
Two minutes after that, Kössler one-upped the difficulty of Ryan’s through-ball, threading the needle between two Gotham FC defenders to set Flint up for a shot, which was also saved.
—Braidon Nourse, Denver Post, 26 Mar. 2026
Network correspondents scramble to one-up each other.
—Michael Scherer, The Atlantic, 14 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for one-up
Cite this Entry
“One-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/one-up. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
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