How to Use the upper hand in a Sentence

the upper hand

noun
  • But flat shoes have the upper hand.
    — India Roby, Glamour, 20 Mar. 2026
  • And here's where Putin has the upper hand.
    — NBC news, 17 Aug. 2025
  • Firth, now 65, of course, has the upper hand.
    — Victoria Edel, PEOPLE, 15 Nov. 2025
  • Every now and then, chaos gets the upper hand.
    — Ew Staff, Entertainment Weekly, 25 June 2026
  • Why does that defense have the upper hand?
    — Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 6 Jan. 2026
  • Leroy gets the upper hand on the soldiers and is able to steal a gun.
    — Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 15 Dec. 2025
  • But this was a chance to flip that script and take the upper hand in this series.
    — Matthew Fairburn, New York Times, 15 May 2026
  • This could be their last chance to have the upper hand on the league for a few reasons.
    — The Athletic Nba Staff, New York Times, 29 May 2026
  • For now, the critics have the upper hand at the ballot box.
    — Sharon Goldman, Fortune, 5 Nov. 2025
  • But don’t count on women holding the upper hand for too long.
    — Fred Schruers, Los Angeles Times, 31 July 2023
  • The Celtics will have the upper hand here even with all of the injuries.
    — Tommy Tuberville, Newsweek, 7 Mar. 2025
  • For years, pay growth held steady as employers had the upper hand.
    — Abha Bhattarai, Washington Post, 28 Apr. 2023
  • Sellers there have the upper hand as homes fly off the market at record speed.
    — Erin Alberty, Axios, 21 Jan. 2025
  • Tired of giving neck, back, and shoulder pain the upper hand?
    — Courtney Leiva, Peoplemag, 17 Aug. 2023
  • For decades, agribusiness has had the upper hand in this conflict.
    — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 18 Apr. 2024
  • And Epstein holds the upper hand.
    — Tara Palmeri, Vanity Fair, 12 Feb. 2026
  • That’s because Venezuela held the upper hand.
    — David Goldman, CNN Money, 5 Jan. 2026
  • Trump heads to China with the upper hand — and Xi knows it.
    — FOXNews.com, 13 May 2026
  • That silence gives scammers the upper hand.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 12 Nov. 2025
  • As the match wore on, Persephone got the upper hand in the corner.
    — Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 17 Apr. 2026
  • And once again, that goes back to employers having the upper hand.
    — Michael Calore Lauren Goode, WIRED, 22 Feb. 2024
  • Instead, tech-savvy humans will have the upper hand on those who resist it.
    — Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 1 Apr. 2026
  • The men on the mound, Angell liked to point out, tended to have the upper hand.
    — Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2025
  • In recent years, his admirers have won the upper hand.
    — Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 25 Aug. 2025
  • Remember who has the upper hand.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 25 Mar. 2026
  • Ukraine must therefore win the upper hand on the battlefield.
    — Norbert Röttgen, Foreign Affairs, 22 Dec. 2023
  • Without it, the disease will inevitably gain the upper hand.
    — Daniele Nyirandutiye, semafor.com, 1 June 2026
  • Who does the coaching staff give the upper hand to in OTAs?
    — Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 June 2026
  • There’s a feeling that workers have the upper hand right now — after all, there aren’t enough of them.
    — Steven P. Dinkin, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Sep. 2023
  • Paramount appeared to gain the upper hand in the bidding war in recent months.
    — Max Zahn, ABC News, 23 Apr. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'the upper hand.' 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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