one up

English

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one up

verb one ups · one upping · one upped · one-up

idiomatic To outdo, to perform something slightly better than a competitor's prior effort. Every year the neighbors try to one-up each other with their holiday lights.

noun one ups · one-up

especially, in phrases like "get one up on someone" An advantage over someone. WePay wants to get one-up in the mobile payments race with its new iOS app for small businesses.
alternative Alternative spelling of 1-up (“extra life”). If you hit that block, you can get a one up.

Translations

Every language

verb do something slightly better than a competitor

Español	superar
Português	superar
Français	surpasser
Deutsch	um eine Nasenlänge voraus sein
Română	întrece, depăși
Русский	превосходи́ть prevosxodítʹ, превзойти́ prevzojtí, переплёвывать perepljóvyvatʹ, переплю́нуть perepljúnutʹ, уде́лывать udélyvatʹ, уде́лать udélatʹ

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MLA

"one up." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/one%20up. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

one up. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/one%20up

Chicago

"one up." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/one%20up.

BibTeX

@misc{one_up_2026,
  title = {one up},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/one%20up},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}