one up
To outdo, to perform something slightly better than a competitor's prior effort.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“She always tries to one up her sister's stories.”
“After he mentioned his promotion, his friend had to one up him by talking about his new house.”
“In the competitive world of corporate law, junior associates constantly seek subtle ways to one up one another without appearing openly ambitious.”
- 01
as best one can
In the best possible way, given one's circumstances and abilities.
- 02
as far as one knows
To the best of one's knowledge, as far as someone knows or possible information to be gathered about the topic, subject, aspect, or situation.
- 03
back to square one
Located back at the start, as after a dead end or failure.
- 04
beat as one
To share the same feelings.
- 05
become one flesh
To join together in marriage; to develop a unifying bond as a result of marrying.
- 06
bite off more than one can chew
To try to do too much; to take on or attempt more than one is capable of doing.
- 07
bite the big one
To perform poorly; to fail.
- 08
bite the hand that feeds one
To cause harm to a benefactor (especially one that one is dependent on, thus with the idea that this behaviour is self-damaging).
Last updated August 10, 2026