Outscore

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To achieve a greater total in scoring than an opponent during competitive events or assessments
2. To surpass a competitor's numerical performance in games or evaluations by earning more points
3. To gain a higher number of points than an adversary in a contest or test

Etymology: "Outscore" is a plain compound: the prefix "out-" joined to the verb "score." "Out" descends from Proto-Germanic "ūt," which carried the sense of moving beyond or away from an enclosed space, and it came into English as Old English "ūt." Over the centuries it gained figurative senses such as surpassing or exceeding, which is the sense behind many English verbs beginning with "out-," like "outrun" or "outlast." "Score" has an older and more physical past. It traces through Old Norse "skor," meaning a notch or cut, and Proto-Germanic "skurō," from a root meaning to cut. Early English speakers used a score as a mark cut into a surface, such as a tally stick, and the later sense of counting points developed from keeping tallies in this way. Attaching "out-" to "score" produces a word meaning to exceed another's total. Because the root sense of "score" is a notch on a tally, "outscore" literally describes cutting more marks than a rival.

Synonyms: surpass, outperform, outdo, exceed, trounce

Antonyms: fall behind, lose, underperform