surpasses

Surpasses is the third-person singular present tense form of the verb surpass. To surpass means to go beyond a limit or benchmark; to exceed in amount, degree, quality, or achievement. A person, thing, or measurement that surpasses another does better than it, or is superior in some respect. The verb is transitive, typically taking a direct object such as a target, a record, a forecast, or an opponent.

Origin and forms: Surpass derives from Old French surpasser, from sur “over” + passer “to pass”; the sense of going beyond appears in Middle English, with earliest attestations in the 14th century. The present participle is surpassing, and the past tense is surpassed.

Usage: Surpasses is common in formal writing, sports reporting, business analysis, and evaluative discourse. Typical collocations include surpass a target, surpass expectations, surpass a record, or surpass rivals. The idiom “to surpass oneself” means to exceed one’s own previous best performance. In comparisons, surpass emphasizes qualitative or quantitative superiority beyond a reference point, rather than merely exceeding a numeric limit.

Examples: The team surpassed their previous record. The report indicates that revenues surpassed projections. Her latest novel surpasses all of her earlier works.

See also: surpass, surpassing, surpassed.