as in to outdo
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Recent Examples of one-up
What your child needs is for their parents to put their child’s needs first and create an environment where their children can thrive, not look for ways to one-up each other.
—
Jann Blackstone, Chicago Tribune, 10 June 2025
Wallen also holds four of the top 10, likewise a new best, one-upping the three simultaneous top 10s that Drake logged for nine weeks in June-September 2018.
—Gary Trust, Billboard, 3 June 2025
And in the business category, several carriers have spent the past few years quietly racing to one-up each other by installing more comfortable lie-flat beds, swapping polyester seat fabrics for higher-quality leather and wool blends, and offering everything from caviar service to premium wines.
—Bailey Berg, AFAR Media, 30 May 2025
Aussie horror sibs Danny and Michael Philippou one-up themselves with their depraved second feature, a visceral nerve-shredder that thrusts them into the same scream big leagues as Ari Aster, John Carpenter and Jordan Peele.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 28 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for one-up
Jann Blackstone, Chicago Tribune, 10 June 2025
Wallen also holds four of the top 10, likewise a new best, one-upping the three simultaneous top 10s that Drake logged for nine weeks in June-September 2018.
—Gary Trust, Billboard, 3 June 2025
And in the business category, several carriers have spent the past few years quietly racing to one-up each other by installing more comfortable lie-flat beds, swapping polyester seat fabrics for higher-quality leather and wool blends, and offering everything from caviar service to premium wines.
—Bailey Berg, AFAR Media, 30 May 2025
Aussie horror sibs Danny and Michael Philippou one-up themselves with their depraved second feature, a visceral nerve-shredder that thrusts them into the same scream big leagues as Ari Aster, John Carpenter and Jordan Peele.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 28 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for one-up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for one-up
Verb
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Not to be outdone, competitor Gulfstream’s flagship G700 made its own record run from San Francisco to Paris Le Bourget in nine hours and 26 minutes.—
Michael Verdon,
Robb Report,
18 June 2025
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Intel's integrated graphics are currently the best, outdoing AMD and Qualcomm's solutions.—
Luke Larsen,
Wired News,
15 June 2025
Verb
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In the most ludicrous, the detectives drive through narrow streets chasing Kat, Marlon and Hugh, who are trying to outrun them on rental bikes.—
Caryn James,
HollywoodReporter,
11 June 2025
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And their image – massive, mysterious, and extinct – reminds us of the fragility of life on islands, where evolution often runs wild but cannot always outrun human presence.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
11 May 2025
Verb
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In-house now outpaces Big Law as a percentage of total legal spend, a reflection of corporate buyers’ search for alternatives to the legacy firm model.—
Mark A. Cohen,
Forbes.com,
17 June 2025
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Imax is riding high in China with box office numbers up 106% year-over-year through May, significantly outpacing the overall Chinese exhibition industry’s 27% growth.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
17 June 2025
Verb
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Among all attacking midfielders in La Liga, Williams completed 112 high turnovers, a figure bettered only by… Raphinha and Yamal.—
Conor O'Neill,
New York Times,
20 June 2025
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There is one place where F1 deviates from standard tropes and betters itself in the process.—
Scott Phillips,
Forbes.com,
19 June 2025
Verb
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After Pete Alonso tied the score with a double, Brandon Nimmo put the Mets (38-23) in front by beating out an infield single, outracing Kershaw to the bag on a ground ball Freeman fielded in front of second baseman Hyeseong Kim (who might have had an easier play moving toward the bag).—
Jack Harris,
Los Angeles Times,
4 June 2025
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The man is trying to outrace his own irrelevance, but time always marches forward, our bodies always fail, there’s always a younger person snapping at your heels.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
30 May 2025
Verb
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Inventive variations are outshining the quintessential Aperol spritz, writes Forbes spirits contributor Rachel King.—
Sarah Perez,
Forbes.com,
27 June 2025
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Fireballs can be seen when ancient pieces of solar system debris with diameters ranging from millimeters to meters slam into Earth's atmosphere, burning up in a fiery display of cosmic pyrotechnics that can easily outshine the brightest planets in the night sky.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
26 June 2025
Verb
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The market could surpass those previous records on Friday or early next week, analysts told CBS MoneyWatch.—
Aimee Picchi,
CBS News,
26 June 2025
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Meanwhile, a 2024 forecast by Research and Markets estimates the digital education sector will surpass $80 billion by 2030, driven by microlearning and online skill monetization.—
Kolawole Samuel Adebayo,
Forbes.com,
26 June 2025
Verb
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As karaoke has transcended borders and became a global phenomenon – and in what has been estimated as a more than $10 billion global industry – Shigeichi’s vision of bringing people together through music endures.—
Thomas Coughlin,
Forbes.com,
23 June 2025
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In stories such as Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series and Star Trek, the genre has positioned outer space as the frontier that humanity must cross in order to transcend earthbound dilemmas.—
Robert Rubsam,
The Atlantic,
21 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“One-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/one-up. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.
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