Meaning & use
outcoach
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Meaning
verbtransitivesport
To coach a team or players better than the opposing coach does, so that your tactics and decisions give your side an advantage.
Grammar: Takes an object, usually a person or team: outcoach the other manager.
Patterns
- outcoach someone
- outcoach the opposition
- be outcoached by someone
She outcoached her old mentor in the final, switching formation at halftime.
Many fans felt the visiting manager had been outcoached in the second half.
He does not have the best players, but he outcoaches almost everyone in the league.
Word forms
| third person singular | outcoaches |
|---|---|
| past tense | outcoached |
| past participle | outcoached |
| -ing form | outcoaching |
Common combinations
- outcoach the opposition
- Their coach outcoached the opposition with a bold late substitution.
- be outcoached
- The home side was simply outcoached in the closing minutes.
- outcoach someone tactically
- She outcoached him tactically, pressing high from the first whistle.
- outcoach the other manager
- You cannot outcoach the other manager if your players are exhausted.
Synonyms and how they differ
- outthink
- Broader: it means to plan better than someone in any contest, not only in sports coaching.
- outmaneuver
- Focuses on clever moves and positioning rather than on the coaching role itself.
Word family
- outcoaching noun
- The act of coaching better than an opponent, as in 'a masterclass in outcoaching'.
Commonly confused: outcoach or coach?
outcoach vs coach
'Coach' just means to train or instruct; 'outcoach' always compares you with a rival coach.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'outcoach' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Outcoach' is transitive and compares coaches, so it needs an object like 'her rival'. The other options use it like an intransitive verb of movement or activity, which it is not.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “outcoach”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.