one up

¹ American  

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.

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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 American  

[wuhn-uhp] / ˈwʌnˈʌp /

verb (used with object)

one-upped, one-upping

1. to get the better of; succeed in being a point, move, step, etc., ahead of (someone).

   They one-upped the competition.

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one-up British  

adjective

1. informal having or having scored an advantage or lead over someone or something

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one up Idioms  

1. 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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Etymology

Origin of one up¹

First recorded in 1920–25

Origin of one-up²

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

After all, little free libraries are worldwide and a great way to off-load and, if you’re lucky, pick one up too.

From Slate • Mar. 8, 2026

Dodger management will always leave any tough choice like this one up to the players.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2026

So she just made one up, a mashup of two nicknames friends had given her: Nano Banana.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 7, 2026

Football can often deliver fairytale moments - and at the Vitality Stadium on Wednesday it served one up as Antoine Semenyo brought the curtain down on his Bournemouth career in perfect fashion.

From BBC • Jan. 7, 2026

He marched over to a stack of gigantic pipes, picked one up, and carried it between buildings and out of sight.

From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown