as in to outdo
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Recent Examples of one-up
Network correspondents scramble to one-up each other.
—
Michael Scherer, The Atlantic, 14 Mar. 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
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
During a performance, Boone does a flip and Stiller attempts to one-up him, jumping from increasingly higher platforms on stage to disastrous, but humorous, effect.
—Sarah Whitten,sara Salinas,sarah Jackson,leslie Josephs, CNBC, 8 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for one-up
Michael Scherer, The Atlantic, 14 Mar. 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
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
During a performance, Boone does a flip and Stiller attempts to one-up him, jumping from increasingly higher platforms on stage to disastrous, but humorous, effect.
—Sarah Whitten,sara Salinas,sarah Jackson,leslie Josephs, CNBC, 8 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for one-up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for one-up
Verb
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Gervin, not to be outdone, later scores 63 against the New Orleans Jazz.—
Senior Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Apr. 2026
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Choreographers Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles have these confident contestants shine with struts, sashays, splits, dips, duckwalks, vogueing and death-drops, each trying to outdo the other, urged on by a rapturous crowd.—
Frank Rizzo,
Variety,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Even when playing an actress from a ’90s sitcom directed by Jimmy Burrows, Kudrow is able to, against all odds, make viewers (or at least me) briefly forget about Phoebe Buffay, an otherwise unforgettable behemoth that would be impossible for any other actor to outrun.—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
6 Apr. 2026
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For the starriest film on their slate, Charlize Theron and Taron Egerton will battle it out in Apex, which follows a woman attempting to outrun a man intent on hunting her in the woods.—
Madeleine Janz,
PEOPLE,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Still, the costs of some key essentials, such as housing, education and health care, have far outpaced inflation, leaving millions of households struggling to afford a home or fund a child's college education.—
Aimee Picchi,
CBS News,
6 Apr. 2026
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Even during limited early observations, the telescope has detected thousands of moving objects in just days, far outpacing traditional asteroid surveys, according to a statement from the NSF NOIRLab.—
Samantha Mathewson,
Space.com,
5 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Across La Liga, that is only bettered by six other players (among those to have played a minimum of 1,000 minutes).—
Dermot Corrigan,
New York Times,
8 Apr. 2026
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Yeboah bettered that in the 67th minute, taking advantage of another defensive breakdown to poke a pass from Tomás Chancalay at the left post past Marcinkowski.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Yapi created the opportunity by outracing Carlos Harvey down the left flank.—
Andy Greder,
Twin Cities,
11 Aug. 2025
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May was replaced by Anthony Banda, who was greeted with another two-run triple by Willy Adames (who had already homered to open the scoring in the second inning) and a run-scoring infield single from Lee, who outraced Banda to first base to punctuate a painfully long inning.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
12 July 2025
Verb
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Driscoll has been seen by Hegseth’s aides as outshining the Defense secretary on prominent policy initiatives.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Apr. 2026
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Like the Battle of the Alamo for Texans, this bloody spectacle is for regime-loyal Shia the defeat that outshines in glory any possible subsequent victory.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
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He's commuted for nearly four years, but recently the spikes of gas have increased, surpassing his monthly budget.—
Kara St. Cyr,
CBS News,
9 Apr. 2026
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The project was such a big hit that the Russos and Hargrave had to bring its main character back from the dead (Hemsworth’s Rake seemed to have died at the end of the first film) for the second installment, which surpassed the streaming numbers of the first pic.—
Justin Kroll,
Deadline,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
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This is a legacy, perhaps as old as humankind, that transcends generations.—
Lynn DeWoskin Covarrubias,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
10 Apr. 2026
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Parts of Alito’s early record transcended factional politics.—
Peter S. Canellos,
The Atlantic,
10 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“One-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/one-up. Accessed 11 Apr. 2026.
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