surpass
/səˈpɑːs
/verb [with object]
1Exceed; be greater than: pre-war levels of production were surpassed in 1929...
- Some 23 provinces suffer power shortages as demand from industrial production surpasses the growth of generation capacity.
- In her first month of production her sales-commission numbers surpassed my first year.
- Of the eight players chosen ahead of Stoudemire, none has surpassed his production.
1.1Be better than: he continued to surpass me at all games...
- Ever believable, this actress to my mind continually surpasses what I have always come to think of as her definitive performance.
- He was a strong leader, a visionary in his way, a figure surpassing all around him at home and on the continent.
- Once again the cast have been asked to put on a special attempt to surpass the productions of the past years.
1.2 (surpass oneself) Do or be better than ever before: the organist was surpassing himself...
- Now the ever progressive York gallery has surpassed itself by presenting an exhibition by Annie Halliday that utilises neither camera nor lens.
- I thought last week's performance by Cris was the worst I'd ever seen by a professional footballer, but he's surpassing himself tonight.
- Every year it surpasses itself with kitschness and when you see it listed on the television schedule, eyes invariably roll to heaven accompanied by moans and groans of distaste.
Derivatives
surpassable
- Sciences like mathematics, optics, mechanics, astronomy and pharmacology had reached a sort of logical ‘completion’ that was not surpassable without a revolutionary reform.
- Any password that involves you moving a cursor around on a screen is easily surpassable by anybody within visual range, and that includes via security camera.
- It is astonishing that even this first film already had something not easily surpassable.
Origin
Mid 16th century: from French surpasser, from sur- 'above' + passer 'to pass'.