Meaning
To hold the position of advantage or control in a contest, negotiation, or relationship. Almost always used with have, get, gain, or seize, and it usually implies genuine dominance over an opponent rather than a moment of luck. Neutral but competitive in tone; a staple of news, sports, and business reporting. Regional use: General English.
Origin
Documented in English by the late 1400s: Etymonline dates the noun use meaning 'advantage' to the late 15th century and notes a parallel form, 'get the over-hand', from the early 14th century, suggesting (only tentatively) the superior grip in wrestling as a possible source. The Phrase Finder disputes the two popular stories: the baseball ritual, in which captains chose sides by gripping a bat hand over hand, is anachronistic because the phrase predates the game by centuries, and the image of one partner's hand resting uppermost when a couple walks arm in arm does not fit the early evidence either. Its own reading is that the earliest uses put the weight on 'upper', meaning simply higher in rank or position, while 'hand' was an established word for possession or control, as in 'in hand'. Its earliest citation is the ballad Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard (believed to date from about 1600), where the lady is to be buried on the upper side because her family was nobler. In short: the advantage sense grew from 'upper' plus 'hand' in the sense of control; wrestling is an unverified suggestion, and the baseball story is contradicted by the dates.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- gain the upper hand
- get the upper hand
- have the upper hand
- seize the upper hand
- the whip hand
Usage Examples
- After winning the first two sets she had the upper hand and never looked like losing.
- Negotiators who control the agenda usually gain the upper hand before talks even begin.
- The government seized the upper hand in the media war by releasing its version of events first.