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
Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 20 Feb. 2026
Maybe to one-up John Cage and his infamous four minutes, thirty-three seconds of silence, Sun Ra had composed a piece for a band that never comes.
—Literary Hub, 13 Feb. 2026
Every season, she one-ups herself, and there’s something crazier.
—Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 11 Feb. 2026
Gary subsequently attempts to one-up his brother by trying — and spectacularly failing — to flip off of the highest point on the set.
—Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 8 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for one-up
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Verb
View gallery - 5 images For those of us who weren't paying attention, over the last few years, scientists around the world have been one-upping each other in a bid to create the smallest QR code that can be reliably read.
—Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 20 Feb. 2026
Maybe to one-up John Cage and his infamous four minutes, thirty-three seconds of silence, Sun Ra had composed a piece for a band that never comes.
—Literary Hub, 13 Feb. 2026
Every season, she one-ups herself, and there’s something crazier.
—Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 11 Feb. 2026
Gary subsequently attempts to one-up his brother by trying — and spectacularly failing — to flip off of the highest point on the set.
—Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 8 Feb. 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 24 Feb. 2026.
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