one-upmanship

one-upmanship
v informal
Always keeping ahead of others; trying to keep an advantage.

No matter what I do, I find that Jim has already done it better. He's an expert at one-upmanship.

Jack took the news to the principal while we were still talking about it. He's very quick to practice one-upmanship.

Compare: one up. (the word one-upmanship was made up by a British humorist, Stephen Potter, on the pattern of such words as sportsmanship and workmanship.)

Словарь американских идиом. — СПб., Изд-во "Лань". . 1997.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • One-upmanship — is the art or practice of successively outdoing a competitor. The term originated as the title of a book by Stephen Potter, published in 1952[1] as a follow up to The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship (or the Art of Winning Games without… …   Wikipedia

  • one-upmanship — n. The attitude or practice of trying to keep one step ahead of a friend or competitor; vigorous competitiveness. [WordNet 1.5 +PJC] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • one-upmanship — [wun up′mən ship΄] n. [ ONE UP + (GAMES)MANSHIP] Informal the practice of, or skill in, seizing an advantage or gaining superiority over others …   English World dictionary

  • one-upmanship — ► NOUN informal ▪ the technique of gaining an advantage or feeling of superiority over someone else …   English terms dictionary

  • one-upmanship — {v.}, {informal} Always keeping ahead of others; trying to keep an advantage. * /No matter what I do, I find that Jim has already done it better. He s an expert at one upmanship./ * /Jack took the news to the principal while we were still talking …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • one-upmanship — {v.}, {informal} Always keeping ahead of others; trying to keep an advantage. * /No matter what I do, I find that Jim has already done it better. He s an expert at one upmanship./ * /Jack took the news to the principal while we were still talking …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • one-upmanship — [[t]wʌ̱n ʌ̱pmənʃɪp[/t]] N UNCOUNT: oft supp N (disapproval) If you refer to someone s behaviour as one upmanship, you disapprove of them trying to make other people feel inferior in order to make themselves appear more important. It was the… …   English dictionary

  • one-upmanship — /wun up meuhn ship /, n. the art or practice of achieving, demonstrating, or assuming superiority in one s rivalry with a friend or opponent by obtaining privilege, status, status symbols, etc.: the one upmanship of getting into the president s… …   Universalium

  • one-upmanship — noun the practice of keeping one jump ahead of a friend or competitor (Freq. 1) • Hypernyms: ↑practice, ↑pattern * * * one upmanship [one upmanship] [wʌnˈʌpmənʃɪp] [wʌnˈʌpmənʃɪp] …   Useful english dictionary

  • one-upmanship — noun a) The art or practice of successively outdoing a competitor. They are bent on one upmanship. I think its hopeless to try to stop them. b) A succession of instances of outdoing a competitor. He always engaged in one upmanship …   Wiktionary

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