upper hand

noun

1. the dominating or controlling position; advantage:

   to have the upper hand in the fight.

upper hand

noun

1. the upper hand
   the position of control; advantage (esp in the phrases have or get the upper hand )

Word History and Origins

Origin of upper hand¹

First recorded in 1475–85

Idioms and Phrases

Also, whip hand . A dominating or controlling position, as in Once you let Jeff get the upper hand there'll be no stopping him , or When it comes to checkers, my son-in-law generally has the whip hand . The first term alludes to an ancient game in which each player in turn grasps a stick with one hand, beginning from the bottom, and the last who can put his hand at the top wins. Its figurative use dates from the late 1400s. The variant alludes to the driver who holds the whip in a horse-drawn vehicle; it was being used figuratively by the late 1600s.

Example Sentences

“Trying to close the gap between the working class and people who have more of an upper hand would be a big help to me and other people in the same boat.”

From BBC

“It’s also, for me, who’s left out of these stories, and who has the upper hand to tell these stories.”

From Los Angeles Times

Both acknowledge that James, who started training at the gym earlier, had the upper hand in stamina.

From Los Angeles Times

England have the upper hand, New Zealand butter fingers.

From BBC

The first round saw Khizriev get the upper hand with the grappling, ducking under a Loughnane spinning back kick and controlling the action on the ground for the remainder of the round.

From BBC

Related Words

• advantage
• dominance
• leverage
• superiority
• supremacy