outdo

[ out-doo ]
See synonyms for outdo on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object),out·did, out·done, out·do·ing.
  1. to surpass in execution or performance: The cook outdid himself last night.

Origin of outdo

1
First recorded in 1600–20; out-, do1

synonym study For outdo

See excel.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use outdo in a sentence

  • Each woman seemed to have planned outdoing the others in conceits which marked her own fairness.

    Lazarre | Mary Hartwell Catherwood
  • One young man in particular seemed intent on outdoing all the rest—a fair-haired little fellow with a snub nose and pince-nez.

    Dry Fish and Wet | Anthon Bernhard Elias Nilsen
  • He has written me exhaustive letters, and seems to be outdoing even you in the amount of energizing which he puts forth.

  • Still the boats pressed on, every rower apparently outdoing himself, if not outdoing everything else.

    Donald and Dorothy | Mary Mapes Dodge
  • Everyone outdoing himself in sweet reasonableness and persuasive argument—hardly an undignified note anywhere.

British Dictionary definitions for outdo

outdo

/ (ˌaʊtˈduː) /


verb-does, -doing, -did or -done
  1. (tr) to surpass or exceed in performance or execution

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012