excel
see also: Excel
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /ɪkˈsɛl/
Verb

excel (excels, present participle excelling; past and past participle excelled)

  1. (transitive) To surpass someone or something; to be better or do better than someone or something.
    • La Rochefoucauld, the French philosopher, said: "If you want enemies, excel your friends; but if you want friends, let your friends excel you." Why is that true? Because when our friends excel us, that gives them a feeling of importance; but when we excel them, that gives them a feeling of inferiority and arouses envy and jealousy.
    I excelled everyone else with my exam results.
  2. (intransitive) To be much better than others.
    • 1924: Aristotle, Metaphysics. Translated by W. D. Ross. Nashotah, Wisconsin, USA: The Classical Library, 2001. Book 1, Part 2. ↗.
      If, then, there is something in what the poets say, and jealousy is natural to the divine power, it would probably occur in this case above all, and all who excelled in this knowledge would be unfortunate.
  3. (transitive, archaic, rare) To exceed, to go beyond
    • 1674, John Milton, Paradise lost, book II
      She opened; but to shut / Excelled her power: the gates wide open stood […]
    • XIX century, I reason, Earth is short, by Emily Dickinson
      I reason, we could die : / The best vitality / Cannot excel decay; / But what of that?
Synonyms Related terms Translations Translations
Excel
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /ɪkˈsɛl/
Proper noun
  1. (computing, software) A spreadsheet application software program written and distributed by Microsoft.



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