to give one points
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To be able to accord him an advantage and yet beat him; to be con- siderably better than he.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to give one points” mean?
To be able to accord him an advantage and yet beat him; to be con- siderably better than he.
Is “to give one points” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.