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
New Atlas, 10 June 2026
The Judgment Day couldn’t get a one-up on Femi as JD McDonagh hit a chair shot but Femi was immovable.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 9 June 2026
Mondo Duplantis, who was born in Louisiana but competes for his mother’s home country of Sweden, keeps one-upping himself, one centimeter at a time.
—Sean Gregory, Time, 9 June 2026
But Saturday’s Game 3 one-upped them both.
—Andrew Greif, NBC news, 8 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for one-up
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Verb
The Berenstein Bear's bedrooms are arranged in a one-up, one-down layout.
—New Atlas, 10 June 2026
The Judgment Day couldn’t get a one-up on Femi as JD McDonagh hit a chair shot but Femi was immovable.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 9 June 2026
Mondo Duplantis, who was born in Louisiana but competes for his mother’s home country of Sweden, keeps one-upping himself, one centimeter at a time.
—Sean Gregory, Time, 9 June 2026
But Saturday’s Game 3 one-upped them both.
—Andrew Greif, NBC news, 8 June 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 15 Jun. 2026.
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