verb (used with object)
- to get the better of (someone); outwit.
Idioms
- outsmart oneself, to defeat oneself unintentionally by overly elaborate intrigue, scheming, or the like: This time he may have outsmarted himself.
verb
- (tr) informal to get the better of; outwit
v.“to prove too clever for,” 1926, from out + smart (adj.). Related: Outsmarted; outsmarting.