have the upper hand

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

And the Iranians will come into the talks thinking they have the upper hand.

From Slate • Apr. 8, 2026

A former official with the DoD, who asked not to be named, told the BBC that Anthropic appeared to have the upper hand in the fight.

From BBC • Feb. 27, 2026

“With sentiment recovering and investors increasingly emboldened by the success of the buy-the-dip approach, bulls clearly have the upper hand into year end,” he wrote.

From Barron's • Dec. 5, 2025

Just a few years ago, the latter seemed to have the upper hand.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 27, 2025

But Richie Dixon always seemed to have the upper hand.

From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz