outplay

out·play | \ ˌau̇t-ˈplā

How to pronounce outplay (audio)

\

outplayed; outplaying; outplays

Definition of outplay

transitive verb

: to play better than especially : to outdo in playing a game The Knicks took a 21-point lead in the first half, gave up 18 consecutive points in the third quarter, but outplayed the Kings down the stretch to win … — The Times Union (Albany, New York)

Examples of outplay in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web England was outplayed in every aspect in a flat display, a week after delivering possibly the greatest performance in its history to overwhelm the All Blacks in the semifinals. — BostonGlobe.com, "to pull out of his Paris Masters semifinal, meaning top-ranked," 3 Nov. 2019 England was outplayed in every aspect in a flat display in Yokohama, a week after delivering possibly the greatest performance in its history to overwhelm the All Blacks in the semifinals. — Washington Post, "South Africa beats England 32-12, wins 3rd World Cup title," 2 Nov. 2019 England was outplayed in every aspect in a flat display in Yokohama, a week after delivering possibly the greatest performance in its history to overwhelm the All Blacks in the semifinals. — NBC News, "South Africa triumph in Rugby World Cup Final," 2 Nov. 2019 One, linebacker Kash Daniel, left the game early due to injury and has arguably been outplayed by his backup, sophomore Chris Oats, in recent weeks. — Jon Hale, The Courier-Journal, "Kentucky football defensive play offers hope for rest of 2019 and beyond," 25 Oct. 2019 Chriss certainly wasn’t outplayed by centers Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee, and each of those men had decent games. — Bruce Jenkins, SFChronicle.com, "Warriors vs. Lakers: There’s hope for a rivalry yet," 15 Oct. 2019 Coaching warning Having been outplayed by Osaka in the first set, the controversy started when Ramos handed the then 36-year-old American a warning for receiving coaching from Mouratoglou from the stands in the first game of the second set. — Danielle Rossingh, CNN, "US Open: 'There's going to be some kind of big drama in the final'," 26 Aug. 2019 Obviously there were other factors to be taken into consideration for Icardi's drop in performance, but Zapata undeniably outplayed him and would, if the Nerazzurri were to pursue him as an alternative to #Lukaku, be a quality addition. — SI.com, "Duvan Zapata: Inter Should Prioritise Atalanta Striker - And Forget About Romelu Lukaku," 17 July 2019 The Warriors were thoroughly outplayed by a motivated Houston Rockets team for the game’s first 24 minutes and went into halftime with a 14-point deficit. — Benjamin Hoffman, New York Times, "N.B.A. Playoffs: Houston Rockets Pull Even With Warriors in Game 2," 16 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'outplay.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

11 Nov 2019

Time Traveler for outplay

The first known use of outplay was in 1702

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