OUTWIT • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Outwit

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/ˈaʊtwˌɪt/ Listen

verb

Outwit v. t.

To surpass in wisdom, esp. in cunning.

To defeat or gain an advantage over by superior craft or cunning stratagems; as, the thief outwitted his pursuers and left the country undetected. "They did so much outwit and outwealth us!"

noun

Outwit n. The faculty of acquiring wisdom by observation and experience, or the wisdom so acquired; opposed to inwit. (Obs.)

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Etymology of 'Outwit'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Outwit" Quotes from Famous Books

... a bad sign. It tickles these anthropomorphic fancies, which are at the bottom of all their creeds. Imagine yourself playing at chess, not with an angel, but with an automaton, an admirably constructed automaton whose mechanism can outwit your brains any day: calm and strong, if you like, but no more playing for love than the clock behind me is ticking for love; there you have a much clearer notion of existence. A much clearer notion, and a much more satisfactory notion too, I say. Fair play and no favour! ...

— Cecilia de Noel • Lanoe Falconer

... silence, each one planning how to outwit the other and each one knowing that the other was planning likewise. According to Tartar ethics the bargain was a bargain. When the boat had been pulled out of danger Mehmet hastened to fulfil his end. With one jerk he loosened ...

— The Best Short Stories of 1921 and the Yearbook of the American Short Story • Various

... two at whist. He did not doubt my honesty, and I astonished him by taking him quite in earnest. He has dealt with diplomatists, who imagine nothing but shuffling: the old Ironer! I love him for his love of common sense, his contempt of mean deceit. He will outwit you, but his dexterity is a giant's—a simple evolution rapidly performed: and nothing so much perplexes pygmies! Then he has them, bagsful of them! The world will see; and see giant meet giant, I suspect. He and I proposed each of us in the mildest manner contrary ...

— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith

... from generation to generation. Hence during the Middle Ages the student of the law became the most important member of the community, and all the energy of the community that was not required to outwit the constant menace of brutal force and religious persecution was devoted to the cultivation of the law and of the literature that it ...

— The Menorah Journal, Volume 1, 1915 • Various

... you a way to outwit Mrs. Johnson; it is a new fashioned way of being witty, and they call it a Bite. You must ask a bantering question, or tell some lie in a serious manner, then she will answer, or speak as if you were in earnest, and then cry you, "Madam, there's a Bite." I would not have you undervalue ...

— The Spectator, Volumes 1, 2 and 3 - With Translations and Index for the Series • Joseph Addison and Richard Steele

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