Dictionary

upper hand en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From Middle English over hond, from Old English ofer- + hand (superior control; superior position). Not, as supposed, from a card game or counting-out game.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, uncountable, usually) Advantage or control.
   • There it was Razumov who had the upper hand, in a composed sense of his own superiority. 1911, Joseph Conrad, chapter 1, in Under Western Eyes:
   • There was no refusing him, for he had got the complete upper hand of the community, and the peaceful burghers all stood in awe of him. 1855, Washington Irving, Guests from Gibbet Island:
   • "We've now protected the line from similar-sized flooding-events and bigger ones," he says. That's quite some claim for a line where floods have often had the upper hand in the past 16 years, causing track bed and embankments to be rebuilt. 2020 August 26, Andrew Mourant, “Reinforced against future flooding”, in Rail, page 61:
   • [C]uriosity began to get the upper hand, and I determined I should have one look through the cabin window. 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter 23, in Treasure Island:
   • And because they live everywhere and reproduce quickly, bacteria have the upper hand. 2003 February 14, Christine Gorman, “Playing Chicken With Our Antibiotics”, in Time:
2. (obsolete, uncountable, usually) The place of honour accorded to a social superior when walking together; the right of way in walking

Forms

Translations (25)

he יָדוֹ עַל הָעֶלְיוֹנָה (advantage) · es delantera (advantage) · ar اَلْيَدُ الْعُلْيَا (advantage) · pl przewaga (advantage) · is hafa vinninginn (advantage) · nb ta overhånd (advantage) · is mega betur (advantage) · sh пре̏дно̄ст (advantage) · nb ta overhand (advantage) · gd làmh an uachdair (advantage) · ru преиму́щество (advantage) · fr prendre le dessus (advantage) · sv överhanden (advantage) · sv övertag (advantage) · sh prȅdnōst (advantage) · nn overhand (advantage) · ga ceannsmacht (advantage) · de Oberhand (advantage) · fi niskalenkki (advantage) · ga an lámh a bheith in uachtar agat (advantage) · is hafa undirtökin (advantage) · nb overhånd (advantage) · is hafa yfirhöndina (advantage) · de Überhand (advantage) · da overhånd (advantage)