to score points
10
3.0
- phrasal verb
:
ganar puntos
- "And Biden tried to score points on the issue of abortion.
- try to score points
- score points to win
- really score points
And we score points by taking people down a peg on social media.
- And we score points by taking people down a peg on social media.
- Every topic is an opportunity to score points.
- The British people need to deal with this, our country needs to deal with it, but yet they still wanted to score points.
- In all cases, articulation of principles and values on human rights and democracy should be designed to persuade, not to score points.
Examples
-
And we score points by taking people down a peg on social media.
-
The D and special teams set up the offense to score points.
Blog text (18) -
There is a time to score points and a time to make points.
Blog text (9) -
What can we do to move the ball, control the ball, and how can we score points?
Blog text (23) -
Flat out, they need to score points in the red zone and Armon can help them.
Blog text (21) -
Wasn't a point guard supposed to score points?
Fiction book (1990) -
If that means I get rebounds, score points, it doesn't matter.
Blog text (12) -
Grosjean is a fast driver, but if he's to score points, then he needs to finish races too!
Blog text (27) -
Teams are more fearful of Devin Hester scoring points than of the entire Bears offense.
Blog text (26) -
In the debate, she tried to score points by highlighting the opponent's mistakes.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To earn someone's trust or respect by being kind and reliable
Antonyms
How Favorable
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal meanings of 'score' (to obtain points) and 'points' (units of scoring) map directly onto the idea of gaining an advantage, so a learner can plausibly infer a non-literal sense of obtaining social or competitive advantage. However, this is a metaphorical extension from sports/measurement to social approval and may not be fully predictable without exposure—even though many languages use a similar metaphor—so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Score points comes from sports, where a player wins points and the scoreboard shows who is ahead. So when someone tries to score points with a teacher or boss, they are trying 'to gain approval, favor, or an advantage'.