excel
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɪkˈsɛl/
ipa: /ɛkˈsɛl/
note: Indic
ipa: /ˈɛksəl/
Forms: form: excels
form: excelling
form: excelled
form: excelled
Etymology: From Middle English excellen, from Old French exceller, from Latin excellere, excelsum; ex (“out”) + *cellō, an unattested verb root found in culmen (“height, top”); Compare French exceller. See also culminate, column.
Senses: examples: text: I excelled everyone else with my exam results.
text: La Rochefoucauld, the French philosopher, said: "If you want enemies, excel your friends; but if you want friends, let your friends excel you." Why is that true? Because when our friends excel us, that gives them a feeling of importance; but when we excel them, that gives them a feeling of inferiority and arouses envy and jealousy.
ref: 1936, Dale Carnegie, “Part 3, Chapter 6: THE SAFETY VALVE IN HANDLING COMPLAINTS”, in How to Win Friends and Influence People:
synonyms: word: better
word: outclass
word: outperform
word: bear away the bell
word: best
word: better
word: overtake
word: dwarf
word: eclipse
word: exceed
word: excel
word: hold the cards
word: outclass
word: outdo
word: outmatch
word: outperform
word: outrival
word: outrun
word: outshadow
word: outshine
word: outstrip
word: outvie
word: overmatch
word: overshadow
word: pass
word: prevail
word: put to shame
word: run away with
word: surpass
word: top
word: transcend
word: trump
word: upstage
glosses: To surpass someone or something; to be better or do better than someone or something.
examples: text: But it is as a destroyer of grasshoppers that the dickcissel excels.
ref: 1901, Sylvester D. Judd, The Relation of Sparrows to Agriculture, page 91:
text: 1924: Aristotle, Metaphysics. Translated by W. D. Ross. Nashotah, Wisconsin, USA: The Classical Library, 2001. Book 1, Part 2..
If, then, there is something in what the poets say, and jealousy is natural to the divine power, it would probably occur in this case above all, and all who excelled in this knowledge would be unfortunate.
text: Lescott gave his finest England performance alongside his former Everton team-mate Phil Jagielka, who also excelled despite playing with a fractured toe, while Parker was given a deserved standing ovation when he was substituted late on.
ref: 2011 November 12, “International friendly: England 1-0 Spain”, in BBC Sport:
text: From Rosie the Riveter to Coco Channel^([sic – meaning Coco Chanel]) (in pants!), from Amelia Earhart to the quaintrelle (the female dandy), change in women's dress has symbolized everything from the right and need to work outside the home to wearing pants as a fashion statement to excelling at a profession (even as an aviatrix) to once again claiming the right to cultivate life's pleasures.
ref: 2011, Glenda L. Swetman, Alison Trappey, “Principles of Gender-specific Medicine”, in Lawrence Charles Parish, Sarah Brenner, Marcia Ramos-e-Silva, Jennifer L. Parish, editors, Manual of Gender Dermatology, Sudbury, Mass.; Mississauga, Ont.: Jones & Bartlett Learning, →ISBN, part I (Primer of Gender Dermatology), page 9:
synonyms: rock
rule
glosses: To be much better than others.
examples: text: She opened; but to shut / Excelled her power: the gates wide open stood […]
ref: 1674, John Milton, Paradise lost, book II:
text: I reason, we could die : / The best vitality / Cannot excel decay; / But what of that?
ref: a. 1887 (date written), Emily Dickinson, “[Book IV.—Time and Eternity] I reason, earth is short”, in Mabel Loomis Todd and T[homas] W[entworth] Higginson, editors, Poems, First Series, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, published 1890, →OCLC, page 134:
synonyms: word: exceed
word: overstep
word: surpass
word: transgress
word: transcend
word: exceed
word: excel
word: forpass
word: go beyond
word: outcompass
word: outstep
word: outstrip
word: overgo
word: overpass
word: overreach
word: overstep
word: overstride
word: surpass
word: transgress
word: transcend
word: trespass
glosses: To exceed, to go beyond.
Synonyms: word: bang
word: devour
word: eat
word: eat and leave no crumbs
word: excel
word: go hard
word: kick
word: kick ass
word: rock
word: rule
word: shine
word: slap
word: slay
Hyponyms: word: come to hand
topics: horse-racing
horseracing
horses
racing
sports
hobbies
lifestyle
pets
word: outfinesse
word: outplay
word: superexcel
Derived terms: superexcel
unexcelling
Related terms: word: excellence
word: excellent
word: exceed