How to Use outplay in a Sentence

outplay

verb
Definition of outplaynext
  • She was outplayed in the tiebreaker and in the third set.
    — John Pye, Houston Chronicle, 15 Jan. 2018
  • But the Suns new star was outplayed by the best player on the court — Kawhi Leonard.
    — Tyler Dragon, USA TODAY, 17 Apr. 2023
  • The Nuggets outplayed the Paces and earned this victory.
    — Clifton Brown, Indianapolis Star, 3 Apr. 2018
  • By the end of the year, Walker had outplayed Nijman and won the job.
    — Rob Reischel, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024
  • But the facts are that Texas outplayed Alabama on both sides of the ball.
    — Kevin Sherrington, Dallas News, 10 Sep. 2023
  • Whose go-to guys are going to outplay the other go-to guys?
    — Joseph Hoyt, Dallas News, 26 May 2023
  • On Sunday, the Bears were outplayed from tipoff until the end.
    — Michael Haag, Dallas News, 19 Mar. 2023
  • The reason: He’s simply outplayed Josh Smith, who was the Rangers’ first choice as a fill-in.
    — Evan Grant, Dallas News, 3 May 2023
  • But football is a team game, and the guys who were on the field were badly outplayed by the league's last-place team.
    — Ken Goe, OregonLive.com, 2 Nov. 2017
  • The Reds simply outplayed the Cubs this weekend at Wrigley Field.
    — Charlie Goldsmith, The Enquirer, 28 May 2023
  • The margin of defeat in each loss was just one goal, and the Wave outplayed Chicago most of the first half.
    — Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 July 2023
  • It’s not easy to outplay a top-15 ranking in the Dallas area, but Salter has done it so far.
    — Joseph Hoyt, Dallas News, 15 Dec. 2020
  • Even the smallest countries are getting a chance to outplay the Brits.
    — Washington Post, 18 Sep. 2019
  • Yet in none of those games had Ohio State been so thoroughly outplayed on both sides of the ball.
    — Nathan Baird, cleveland, 8 Dec. 2019
  • The Lions outplayed the Bears up front in terms of pass protection.
    — Brad Biggs, chicagotribune.com, 28 Nov. 2019
  • Like Toronto, Chivas hit the road and was outplayed Tuesday.
    — Brian Straus, SI.com, 11 Apr. 2018
  • Barcelona, outplayed in the first half, won 2-1 thanks to two superb second-half goals from Luis Suarez.
    — Jonathan Wilson, SI.com, 2 Oct. 2019
  • Mrazek outplayed Howard going into the All-Star break, earning the right to grab the starter reins coming out of the break.
    — Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press, 31 Jan. 2018
  • Turning on the switch, the Sixers were able to outplay Miami in the fourth quarter of the last two games.
    — Keith Pompey, Philly.com, 23 Apr. 2018
  • Trexler entered the playoff matches the No. 2 seed and outplayed No.
    — Zach Horrall, Indianapolis Star, 10 Feb. 2018
  • Although the final stat sheet shows a one-goal margin, the Oilers were outplayed in the loss.
    — Jackson Castellano, Sun Sentinel, 14 June 2024
  • The second unit has been outplaying the first at times, granted.
    — Bill Livingston, cleveland.com, 7 Feb. 2018
  • Reiff outplayed Flowers in the first meeting, but Flowers has been on a tear since.
    — Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press, 7 Dec. 2019
  • Still, here is a group that mostly outplayed Barcelona at home in the league—somehow losing with almost the last kick of the game.
    — Henry Flynn, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2024
  • Davis outplayed Green, who had been key to the Warriors evening the series with a similar romp in Game 2.
    — Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2023
  • After a noon kickoff, Purdue scored on an 83-yard wheel route pass on the first play of the game and then went on to outplay the Buckeyes for most of the day.
    — cleveland.com, 20 Oct. 2017
  • Over the last five weeks, Martínez simply outplayed Thompson.
    — Evan Grant, Dallas News, 11 Aug. 2023
  • The Hawks have been able to outplay teams early this year so there’s a solid bet on Atlanta in to win the first quarter spread.
    — Ian Firstenberg, Chicago Tribune, 11 Mar. 2023
  • The Ravens’ defense has severely outplayed the offense through four days of camp.
    — Taylor Lyons, Baltimore Sun, 24 July 2024
  • But the 27-year-old suffered a knee injury in training camp and was outplayed by others, specifically Ronald Darby and Arthur Maulet.
    — Brian Wacker, Baltimore Sun, 19 Feb. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'outplay.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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