out-do

A form of outdo — To excel; go beyond in performance; surpass.

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Meanings

verbout-do (third-person singular simple present out-does, present participle out-doing, simple past out-did, past participle out-done)

present singular third person out-does · participle present out-doing · past out-did · participle past out-done

  1. alternativeAlternative form of outdo.

    This Englishman should neither out-do him in generosity nor affrontery.

    1898, John R[oy] Musick, Sustained Honor: A Story of the War of 1812, New York, N.Y.: Funk & Wagnalls Company; London and Toronto, page 188
    2 more examples

    As for their Sleeping, they ſtrive not only to imitate, but alſo to out-do the antient Inhabitants of Capua; for thoſe would not allow their Children any Beds; till they were Married, alledging, that Beds were invented for the Eaſe of Antient and decripid People, not to encourage young Men in their Effœminacy.

    1698, J[odocus] C[rull], The Antient and Present State of Muscovy, Containing a Geographical, Historical and Political Account of All Those Nations and Territories Under the Jurisdiction of the Present Czar, London: […] A. Roper, […]; and A. Bosvile, […], page 162

    The Girls were always trying to out-do us, but with the boys around you couldn’t be afraid of a shitty G-reg.

    2007, Richard Milward, Apples, Canongate, →ISBN, page 42
Cite this entry
APA

out-do. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/out-do

MLA

“out-do.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/out-do. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “out-do,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/out-do.

Source: out-do on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.