outdo
verb (used with object)
to surpass in execution or performance.
were outdoing
-
past progressiveof outdo.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
Rabbis wrote with satisfaction that children were outdoing their parents at piety.
From Slate ● Nov. 8, 2011
"But because of the pressure from the New York and Paris bureaux to get the story, people were outdoing each other to 'road-run', and they were disappearing in droves."
From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2010
Within a few years, however, the Soviets not only had mastered MIRVing but in some areas were outdoing the U.S. at it.
From Time Magazine Archive
The house-elves down in the kitchen were outdoing themselves with a series of rich, warming stews and savory puddings, and only Fleur Delacour seemed to be able to find anything to complain about.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
I have heard crowds bellow too often to be moved by it—though the twenty or thirty thousand gathered under that roof were outdoing the cannonade of any thunderstorm.
From The Plum Tree by E. M. Ashe
