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
Caroline Framke, Vulture, 24 Nov. 2025
The series stars Naomi Watts, Niecy Nash-Betts, Teyana Taylor, Matthew Noszka, Sarah Paulson and Glenn Close, who all one-up each other with deliriously absurd lines of dialogue.
—Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 24 Nov. 2025
Rojas’ play in the ninth was fantastic, but then Andy Pages one-upped him with a leaping catch on Ernie Clement’s long drive to left-center while colliding with Kiké Hernández.
—Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 2 Nov. 2025
Plainly, Miami was surprised by how Louisville came out, Cards coach Jeff Brohm one-up on Cristobal’s staff.
—Miami Herald, 18 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for one-up
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Verb
Sure, any place full of people trying to network and one-up each other is basically a waking nightmare.
—Caroline Framke, Vulture, 24 Nov. 2025
The series stars Naomi Watts, Niecy Nash-Betts, Teyana Taylor, Matthew Noszka, Sarah Paulson and Glenn Close, who all one-up each other with deliriously absurd lines of dialogue.
—Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 24 Nov. 2025
Rojas’ play in the ninth was fantastic, but then Andy Pages one-upped him with a leaping catch on Ernie Clement’s long drive to left-center while colliding with Kiké Hernández.
—Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 2 Nov. 2025
Plainly, Miami was surprised by how Louisville came out, Cards coach Jeff Brohm one-up on Cristobal’s staff.
—Miami Herald, 18 Oct. 2025
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 29 Nov. 2025.
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