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View synonyms for one up

one up

1

adjective

  1. having gained an advantage in some way that betokens success, especially over rivals.
  2. leading an opponent by one point or one scoring unit:

    The home team was one up on the visitors.

  3. one each; tied at a score of one:

    The score was one up in the ninth inning.



adverb

  1. Printing. with only one reproduction of a form per sheet or on a given sheet:

    We must print this job one up.

  2. Journalism. using one more column of space than of type.

one-up

2

[ wuhn-uhp ]

verb (used with object)

, one-upped, one-up·ping.
  1. to get the better of; succeed in being a point, move, step, etc., ahead of (someone):

    They one-upped the competition.

one-up

adjective

  1. informal.
    having or having scored an advantage or lead over someone or something
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of one up1

First recorded in 1920–25

Origin of one up2

First recorded in 1960–65
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Idioms and Phrases

Having an advantage or lead over someone, as in Sara is one up on Jane because she passed algebra in summer school . This expression comes from sports, where it means to be one point ahead of one's opponents. It was transferred to more general use about 1920.
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Example Sentences

Will the Kleig lights now shining on Sam move them to one-up him as the first?

With millions of bucks on the line, advertisers aim to one-up each other with the funniest, most memorable spots.

PF: There was a point after Me, Myself and Irene that we seemed to have to one-up ourselves and we didn't want to do that.

Both he and Roubini strutted their stuff in Davos in January, trying to one-up each other with ever-more-dire forecasts.

Well, my wife, you know, seems to think it might put me one-up with the jolly old dad if I did something.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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one-twoone-upmanship