outdo
Americanverb (used with object)
-
outdoes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
outdid,
past
-
outdone,
past participle
-
outdoing
present participle
verb
Synonym Usage
See excel.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
outdosimple
-
outdoessimple
-
have outdoneperfect
-
has outdoneperfect
-
am outdoingprogressive
-
are outdoingprogressive
-
is outdoingprogressive
-
have been outdoingperfect progressive
-
has been outdoingperfect progressive
Past
-
outdidsimple
-
had outdoneperfect
-
was outdoingprogressive
-
were outdoingprogressive
-
had been outdoingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of outdo
Explanation
To outdo is to beat or surpass: when you outdo your brother in a pie-eating contest, you manage to gobble down more lemon meringue than he does. You'll probably regret it later, but at least you'll have that blue ribbon! Anyone who outdoes another person wins against them in some contest, whether it's an actual competition or an unstated rivalry. You can also outdo your own record, like when you outdo last semester's grades with the help of all the As you get in English. And you can cheer for your favorite basketball team as they outdo their opponents by easily winning the game.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
However, even the Defense Department’s calisthenics-addled secretary has managed to outdo himself.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
Johnston, a beloved local and the favorite entering the tournament, will have to outdo McKinney on the weekend to give himself a shot at the overall season title.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026
"It's clear just how passionate Messi still is for football and you can tell it's in his DNA to always be a competitor, and to try and outdo himself more than anyone else," Giroud says.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
If anything, Jones felt trying to outdo that soundtrack would have been a losing battle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2026
“Only with feasts. Each will try to outdo the others with his hospitality. My lord father said he never ate half so well as when visiting the clans.”
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Just when you think Timothée Chalamet can't surprise audiences anymore on his absurd "A Complete Unknown" press tour, he outdoes himself.
From Salon ● Jan. 16, 2025
The result is a series that, in quality and viewership, outdoes many TV and streaming programs.
From New York Times ● Nov. 26, 2024
"Considering that Fernando, he has done a very good job, like he normally does. He is a little special in that respect and outdoes a little bit the potential of the cars."
From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2024
And the plagiarism that these AI algorithms partake in is so subtle that it outdoes plagiarism in the ordinary sense: it takes other people’s work and synthesizes sources in ways typically untraceable.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 28, 2023
In a word, Lafcadio Hearn outdoes the missionaries in dogmatism, exceeds even the hostile propagandist in telling the naked truth.
From Concerning Lafcadio Hearn With a Bibliography by Laura Stedman by George M. (George Milbrey) Gould
He said at that time that a sandwich intended to compete with Popeye’s was in the works, with “a very large hand-breaded chicken breast” that he suggested outdid rival sandwiches in size.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
Sax outdid himself by also designing a trumpet with 13 bells; this instrument, later built by his son Adolphe-Édouard, resembles a brass Hydra.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
This year, Schmitt, a sitting senator, outdid them both.
From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2025
Glastonbury loves a surprise set, and this year they outdid themselves.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2025
The algae had a light sweetness that outdid in delight even the sap of our maple trees here in Canada.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
They were matched and even outdone by Mr. Colaneri’s bombastic conducting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Not to be outdone, Ohtani led off the fifth inning with a single, but the Dodgers failed to score.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Not wanting to be outdone by the other, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane and Erling Haaland all came out of the blocks firing in their respective nations' opening fixtures.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
As he told Womack, “As soon as I knew what music was, I immediately became obsessed with The Beatles. Within a few years we had completely outdone our parents in terms of fandom.”
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026
Not to be outdone, Cassiopeia stood on the seat and waved her book in the air.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
But it is new territory for England to arrive with a group capable of matching - or even outdoing - the hosts for velocity.
From BBC ● Nov. 19, 2025
India landed successfully on the moon, outdoing Russia, which crashed.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 12, 2023
That makes India a key market for planemakers, especially Airbus which has bagged the bulk of new orders, outdoing U.S. rival Boeing, and engine manufacturers whose wares will be put to test.
From Reuters ● Jun. 20, 2023
The Pacific Northwest is expecting the most unusual weather event for mid-May, with the region now outdoing its southern neighbors with extreme heat.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2023
This was a wickedness far outdoing Snowball’s destruction of the windmill.
From "Animal Farm: A Fairy Story" by George Orwell
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.
