Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to pip to the post

to pip to the post

9.2
Beat someone at the very last moment in a contest
  • phrasal verb
  • UK
translation icon : ganar por poco
  • After trailing for most of the match, she managed to pip to the post in the final seconds.

Examples

  • He was disappointed to be pipped to the post after leading the race for so long.

  • Did she really pip to the post last week?

  • The underdog team pipped to the post their rivals with a last-minute goal.

  • He pipped to the post in the final seconds!

  • After trailing for most of the match, she managed to pip to the post in the final seconds.

  • The underdog team pipped to the post their rivals with a last-minute goal.

  • He was disappointed to be pipped to the post after leading the race for so long.

Synonyms

to beat out
vsto pip to the post
49 3.8

Defeat others in a contest to win a job or prize

wins narrowly specifically at the final moments of the contest
to pip
vsto pip to the post
  • Literature
8.2

To beat someone by a very small margin

wins narrowly right before the contest ends

Antonyms

to lose
∞ 1.0

Fail to win a game or contest

How Close

by a nose
  • Informal
5 4.9
to pip to the post
  • UK
9.2
to beat out
49 3.8
to beat
∞ 1.4

Surface Forms

pip to the post infinitive
pipped to the post past
pipped to the post past participle
pipping to the post present participle
pips to the post third person singular

Morphology

pip + to + the + post

The verb 'pip' already encodes the idea of edging out an opponent by a very small margin, so a learner who knows that sense could infer the overall meaning; however the collocation 'to the post' (meaning at the finish/last moment) is somewhat idiomatic and relies on a less common sense of 'post' that many learners may not know. Because part of the meaning comes directly from a constituent while the temporal/finish-line nuance is idiomatic and regionally used, the expression is only partially predictable.

Etymology

Pip to the post may come from old horse racing: the post was the 'finish line' and to pip someone was to beat them by a tiny amount at that post. So the phrase means 'to narrowly defeat' someone at the last moment.