as in to outdo
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Recent Examples of one-up
But the answer isn’t for Republicans to one-up those efforts with their own election-rigging measure.
—
Steven Greenhut, Oc Register, 27 Mar. 2026
Kyle is just outing herself as a gossip and is distorting what everyone has to say to try to one-up Dorit in her own life.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 27 Mar. 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for one-up
Steven Greenhut, Oc Register, 27 Mar. 2026
Kyle is just outing herself as a gossip and is distorting what everyone has to say to try to one-up Dorit in her own life.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 27 Mar. 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for one-up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for one-up
Verb
-
The sisters’ mission involves a dangerous and violent road trip; the fierce Racine outdoes the sensitive Anaia in her bloodlust, and the drama, reminiscent of classical tragedy, resounds with mythopoetic overtones.—
Sheldon Pearce,
New Yorker,
15 May 2026
-
This time around, the Flagstaff builder outdoes itself on both fronts with a pop-up camping topper sized to a 1980 Mini 95 pickup, creating a camping truck that sizes comparably to a Japanese kei camper.—
C.C. Weiss
May 12,
New Atlas,
12 May 2026
Verb
-
Beth and Carter manage to grab a few valuables and load the horses into a trailer, while Rip cuts the property's fences to give their cattle a chance to outrun the flames.—
Samantha Stutsman,
PEOPLE,
16 May 2026
-
Not lies; language that outran its own foundation.—
Kathleen Lucente,
Forbes.com,
15 May 2026
Verb
-
His thoughts tend to outpace his ability to articulate them in a first pass.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
19 May 2026
-
Producer prices growth in April outpaced consumer price gains for the first time since July 2022, with OCBC's Xie suggesting companies will absorb a large part of the commodity shock rather than pass it fully to consumers.—
Anniek Bao,Evelyn Cheng,
CNBC,
18 May 2026
Verb
-
Skelton, who four years earlier had won team jumping gold at London 2012, became the second-oldest British Olympic champion, his feat bettered only by Joshua Millner, who won shooting gold in London in 1908, aged 61.—
Danielle Rossingh,
New York Times,
21 May 2026
-
Maybe that is a bit of a distraction from what the end goal actually is, which is to better the supply chain.—
Kate Nishimura,
Footwear News,
20 May 2026
Verb
-
Yapi created the opportunity by outracing Carlos Harvey down the left flank.—
Andy Greder,
Twin Cities,
11 Aug. 2025
-
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
-
In Game 6, Stephon Castle outshined Wembanyama with a game-high 32 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.—
Marcus Thompson II,
New York Times,
16 May 2026
-
Wednesday Cramer expects Lowe's, which reports in the morning, to potentially outshine Home Depot given its greater exposure to do-it-yourself consumers in a weak housing market.—
Alexa LoMonaco,
CNBC,
15 May 2026
Verb
-
In Year 3, the PWHL surpassed one million fans in attendance in a single season for the first time.—
Hailey Salvian,
New York Times,
21 May 2026
-
Earlier this month, the seventy-seven-year-old Thomas became the second-longest-serving Justice in history, surpassing John Paul Stevens, who retired after thirty-four years, in 2010.—
Ruth Marcus,
New Yorker,
21 May 2026
Verb
-
Using large-format Polaroid film and primarily shooting in his Paris studio, Roversi’s dream-like and imaginative compositions have been able to transcend time.—
Martino Carrera,
Footwear News,
15 May 2026
-
The chaos that ensued has seen a clash of play styles, with some players trying to transcend their normal strategies and others falling victim to the same mistakes that have hindered their past quests for victory.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
15 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“One-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/one-up. Accessed 22 May. 2026.
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