Quote
1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.
I had to be mentally tough, eat right, and get every advantage I could elsewhere to try to stack up and continually evolve as a player.
- NBA star Steve Nash on competing with bigger, faster and stronger basketball players. (charlierose dot com)
Definition
1. Definition - Study the definition.
compare to, compete with, equal
2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.
In order to stack up against the competition, we’re going to need to release some great new products in the next year.
How do you think the teams playing in tonight’s game stack up against one another? Is it going to be a close game?
An easy way to compare things is with a bar graph. (There are a couple of examples on our US Presidential election page.) When you look at a bar graph, you’re looking at two or more stacks to see how some things compare to one another.
The phrase stack up is sort of a linguistic bar graph. It’s used to describe comparisons or competitions.
Steve Nash is a good athlete, but there are plenty of players in the NBA who stack up better when it comes to natural physical ability.
So how did Nash become the most valuable player in the league two years in a row? He ate well and practiced and did everything he could to stack up against the other players overall. Now he’s so good that the talent of future players will be measured by how they stack up against Nash.
Examples
1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.
“In order to stack up against the competition, we’re going to need to release some great new products in the next year.”
“How do you think the teams playing in tonight’s game stack up against one another? Is going to be a close game?”