upper hand

American  

noun

1. the dominating or controlling position; advantage.

   to have the upper hand in the fight.

---

upper hand British  

noun

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

---

upper hand Idioms  

1. 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.

---

Etymology

Origin of upper hand

First recorded in 1475–85

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

upper hand

But even within confederations, there is disagreement and it makes it very difficult to predict whether Infantino or his opponents have the upper hand in this battle.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

This summer, the technological race continues as the two sides vie for the upper hand on land, at sea and in the skies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Both believe they emerged from this war with the upper hand; both believe the other will be forced by its own weaknesses to back down first.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

Firefighters aided by better weather on Saturday gained the upper hand on one of Spain's deadliest wildfires as survivors described "horrific" and terrifying moments as they escaped the flames.

From Barron's ● Jul. 11, 2026

For a few glorious days I had the upper hand.

From "Ugly" by Robert Hoge

Related Words

• advantage
• dominance
• leverage
• superiority
• supremacy