outstrip

present singular third person outstrips · participle present outstripping · participle past outstripped · past outstripped · participle past outstript · past outstript · first person past singular outstripped · first person past singular outstript · archaic present second person singular outstrippest · past second person singular outstripped · past second person singular outstript · archaic past second person singular outstrippedst · present singular third person outstrips · archaic present singular third person outstrippeth · past singular third person outstripped · past singular third person outstript

1. transitiveTo move more quickly than (someone or something) so as to outrun or leave it behind.

   We quickly outstripped the amateur runners.

   5 more examples

   And leaſt that I in telling of my tale may longer bee, / Than they in ronning of their race, outſtripped quight was shée. / And he that wan her, marying her enioyd her for his fée.

   1567, Ovid, “The Tenth Booke”, in Arthur Golding, transl., The XV. Bookes of P. Ouidius Naso, Entytuled Metamorphosis, […], London: […] Willyam Seres […], →OCLC, folio 134, recto

   The Savages pursued, some of them came up to him, he beat them off, outstript the rest, ran into the sea, and swam off to the boat.

   1810, Robert Southey, chapter VII, in History of Brazil, 1st part, London: […] [William Pople] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […], →OCLC, page 201

   […] Bingley, who wanted to be alone with Jane, proposed their all walking out. […] Bingley and Jane, however, soon allowed the others to outstrip them. They lagged behind, while Elizabeth, Kitty, and Darcy, were to entertain each other.

   1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter XVI, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 270

   Roaring he calleth "sound," and a steed that high bloweth in running, he compareth to Eclipse, for he outstrippeth the wind.

   1832, Thomas Hood, “A Horse-dealer”, in The Comic Annual, 2nd edition, London: Charles Tilt, […], →OCLC, page 133

   There was a violent jostle between the remaining men. […] The MacQuern overtook Mr. Oover at St. Mary's and outstripped him in Radcliffe Square.

   1911 October 26, Max Beerbohm, chapter VIII, in Zuleika Dobson, or, An Oxford Love Story, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: John Lane Company, published 1912, →OCLC, page 146

   Synonyms: overgo, overhaul, overtake

2. figurativelytransitiveTo exceed or surpass (someone or something).

   This year’s production has already outstripped last year’s.

   5 more examples

   Death and deſtruction dogge thee at the heeles, / Thy Mothers name is ominous to children, / If thou wilt outſtrip death, go croſſe the ſeas, / And liue with Richmond, from the reach of hell, […]

   c. 1593 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedy of King Richard the Third. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Sims [and Peter Short] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1597, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]

   [A]s the eſtrich, the moſt burning ſighted bird of all others, inſomuch as the female of them hatcheth not her egs by couering them, but by the effectual rayes of her eyes, as he, I ſay, outſtrippeth the nimbleſt trippers of his feathered condition and^([sic – meaning in?]) footmanſhip, onely ſpurd on with the needle quickning goade vnder his ſide: ſo hee no leſſe burning ſighted than the eſtrich, ſpurde on to the race of honor by the ſweet rayes of his miſtres eyes, perſwaded himſelfe he ſhould outſtrip all other in running to the goale of glorie, only animated and incited by hir excellence.

   1594, Tho[mas] Nashe, “The Vnfortunate Traueller”, in The Vnfortunate Traueller. Or, The Life of Iacke Wilton, London: […] T. Scarlet for C[uthbert] Burby, […], →OCLC

   […] O Ferdinand, / Doe not ſmile at me, that I boaſt her of, / For thou ſhalt finde ſhe will out-ſtrip all praiſe / And make it halt, behinde her.

   1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 14, column 1

   Thou art too hard for me in Love; / There is no dealing wᵗʰ Thee in that Art, / That is Thy Masterpeece, I see. / When I contrive and plott to prove / Something that may be conquest on my part, / Thou still, O Lord, outstrippest mee.

   a. 1634 (date written), George Herbert, “Lilies of the Temple”, in Alexander B[alloch] Grosart, editor, The Complete Works in Verse and Prose of George Herbert. […] (The Fuller Worthies’ Library), volume II (Verse), London: […] [Robson and Sons] for private circulation, published 1874, →OCLC, section II (Love), stanza 1, page 23, lines 1–6

   Thy zeal outstrippeth the limbs of a weary man, brother.

   1832, [James Fenimore Cooper], chapter XII, in The Heidenmauer; or, The Benedictines. A Legend of the Rhine. […], volume II, Philadelphia, Pa.: [Henry Charles] Carey & [Isaac] Lea […], →OCLC, page 163

   Synonyms: outdo, transcend, exceed, excel, forpass, go beyond, breach, cap

3. archaicraretransitiveTo exceed or overstep (a boundary or limit); to transgress.

   Still, he thought that if Roy happened to expand his kingdom, outstripping that self-imposed nickname of his, it'd be nice to have the man on his list.

   2005 July, Will Staeger, Painkiller, New York, N.Y.: HarperTorch, HarperCollinsPublishers, published May 2006, →ISBN, page 13

   1 more example

   Therefore Gentlemen, / And kinde Spectators, if I haue out-ſtript / An old mans gratuitie, or ſtrict canon, thinke / What a yong Wife, and a good Brayne may doe: / Stretch Ages truth ſometimes, and crack it too.

   1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, →OCLC, Act V, scene v