outsmart

«outsmart» in Mova's school dictionary: to beat them by being cleverer or trickier — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

verb (outsmart, outsmarts, outsmarted, outsmarting)

meaning for a pupil

To outsmart someone is to beat them by being cleverer or trickier. tree →

sense in the lessons

In stories and fairy tales clever small characters outsmart bigger ones: the Gruffalo's mouse, Brer Rabbit, the three little pigs. In everyday life and games you outsmart an opponent at chess. In safety lessons scammers try to outsmart people, so we learn their tricks. Phrases: «outsmart the fox», «be outsmarted by».

examples

• The little mouse outsmarted the fox in the deep dark wood. tree →
• She outsmarted me at chess with a clever move. tree →
• The squirrel outsmarted our bird feeder. tree →
• Scammers try to outsmart people, so never share your password. tree →
• The detective outsmarted the thief. tree →
• Brer Rabbit outsmarted Brer Fox again. tree →

note

Past form «outsmarted». Prefix «out-» means «do better than». Similar: «outwit», «outfox». Informal but fine in writing.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «outsmart» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.