upper hand

noun

Definition of upper hand

: mastery, advantage, control was determined not to let the opposition get the upper hand

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Examples of upper hand in a Sentence

finally gained the upper hand in the argument

Recent Examples on the Web

Cooke, who according to court records was four inches taller and 40 pounds heavier than Porter, quickly got the upper hand, and continued beating Porter. Cory Shaffer, cleveland.com, "Love triangle beating death lands Euclid man in prison," 28 June 2019 Last year, the militias had the upper hand, holding all the way up to the northern end of the highway. Washington Post, "Militiamen dig in at a front line of Yemen’s deadlocked war," 9 Aug. 2019 Eventually, Congress got the upper hand, putting NASA on track to build the large SLS rocket at a development cost of more than $2 billion a year. Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "NASA agrees to work with SpaceX on orbital refueling technology," 31 July 2019 In that sense, Boone might have the upper hand over Mattison, at least for the time being. Dane Mizutani, Twin Cities, "Vikings RBs Alexander Mattison, Mike Boone on position battle: ‘It’s all love’," 24 July 2019 While the overall supply of single-family for-sale housing is still below the 6 month mark experts generally view as a balanced market in which neither buyer nor seller have the upper hand, inventory has been rising. Nancy Sarnoff, Houston Chronicle, "Houston home sales, though strong, register first dip in months," 10 July 2019 But as science charts the contours of cellular function in ever-greater detail, a more fluid conception of cellular life and death has begun to gain the upper hand. Quanta Magazine, "Cellular Life, Death and Everything in Between," 8 July 2019 Democrats remain split today — there are still anti-free-trade factions within their party, but the free-traders have had the upper hand since Clinton. Jay Cost, National Review, "How Republicans Can Appeal to the White Working Class," 25 July 2019 At least in the head coach’s estimation, the next most senior player, Truesdell, has the upper hand. Sam Blum | Sblum@al.com, al, "Where Auburn football is leaning in open defensive tackle competition," 25 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'upper hand.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of upper hand

15th century, in the meaning defined above

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More Definitions for upper hand

upper hand

noun

Kids Definition of upper hand

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