To defeat or trick someone by being cleverer than they are.
From 'out-' (surpassing) combined with 'wit' (intelligence/mental sharpness). 'Wit' comes from Old English and originally meant to know or understand.
The root 'wit' appears in 'outwit,' 'nitwit,' and 'dimwit'—all comparing intelligence to something (nits, dim light)—and this obsession with naming intelligence levels shows how important mental quickness was to English-speaking cultures!
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