notches (up)

verb

present tense third-person singular of notch (up)
as in wins
to obtain (as a goal) through effort a stunning performance that notched up a second Academy Award for the actor

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for notches (up)
  1. wins
  2. achieves
  3. attains
  4. gains
  5. scores
  6. makes
Verb
  • Each man wins one round of the fight before it’s broken up, ensuring there’s no clear winner — but the mere fact that Cliff was able to throw a martial arts legend into the side of a car is a feather in his cap.
    — Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 6 Nov. 2026
  • Horse racing’s biggest star closes from dead last, but Blame holds off the 6-year-old mare and wins the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic under the lights Churchill Downs.
    — Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of wins
Verb
  • So fill a surface with words, more words and larger words than are necessary; fill a surface with something—anything—that achieves a minimal degree of individuation as well as commercial persuasion.
    — Alec Mapes-Frances, Artforum, 1 Nov. 2026
  • The five-phase program will begin with initial criticality, the point at which a reactor achieves a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of achieves
Verb
  • Rama attains liberation after renouncing the world, while Lakshmana’s violent actions lead him to hell before a spiritual ascent later.
    — Tamanna Nangia, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Oct. 2026
  • At the heart of Fee’s heroic narratives is the idea of a self that attains purity.
    — Garth Greenwell, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of attains
Verb
  • The company will maintain the older system until its newer model gains equivalent capabilities.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 11 Nov. 2026
  • The team that will improve the most after sit-out transfers become eligible is Mater Dei, which gains 6-8 Ryan Doane from JSerra and 6-11 Ender Berg from Legacy Christian.
    — Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 11 Nov. 2026
Definition of gains
Verb
  • Elina Svitolina, in Tom Ford, scores a snack while Rybakina, Gauff, and Muchova come away empty-handed.
    — Corey Seymour, Vogue, 6 Nov. 2026
  • Beliveau, who scores all four Canadien goals, gets three in 44 seconds against Bruins goaltender Terry Sawchuk on the same power play.
    — Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of scores
Verb
  • When a team makes an investment in a cornerback like Indianapolis did, that player should be trusted to take on any receiver in the league.
    — Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 Nov. 2026
  • Digital twin technology makes this possible by creating virtual representations of real-world objects, systems, and processes that can be updated with operational data.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 8 Nov. 2026
Definition of makes
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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notches
notches (up)
notching
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Cite this Entry

“Notches (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/notches%20%28up%29. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.

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