to maintain the upper hand
- idiom
:
mantener la ventaja
- The experienced player always finds a way to maintain the upper hand during matches.
Examples
-
Naturally, at that age, I was incompetent and inexperienced and not yet wise enough in the ways of the world to be able to deal with manipulative women while maintaining the upper hand and composure.
Blog text (28) -
I will maintain the upper hand.
Fiction book (2000) -
So God must maintain the upper hand in his struggle with these humans who have learned to defy Him.
-
In the debate, she knew how to maintain the upper hand by presenting strong arguments.
-
To win the negotiation, he needed to maintain the upper hand over the opposing team.
Synonyms
264
3.7
Keep power over a situation and stay calm
48
3.7
To rise above a place and be clearly visible from around it
9
6.6
To have power over people or situations
8
6.1
To have control or an advantage in a situation
8
5.8
To win against someone or something that tries to stop you
7
5.5
To have complete control and a strong advantage in a situation
Keep a morally better or stronger position in an argument
Do as well as others in a difficult situation
Antonyms
How Advantageous
275
3.7
∞
2.4
- Informal
8
6.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase decomposes transparently: 'maintain' = keep, 'upper' = higher/superior, and 'hand' here denotes a position or hold, so 'maintain the upper hand' literally means to keep a superior position. The spatial/metaphorical mapping of higher position to advantage is common and follows regular English composition, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will likely infer the meaning.
Etymology
Maintain the upper hand comes from the simple image of two hands in a struggle, where the upper hand is the one on top and has more control. So to 'maintain the upper hand' means 'to keep an advantage' or 'to stay in control'.