score points

English

Verb

score points (third-person singular simple present scores points, present participle scoring points, simple past and past participle scored points)

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see score,‎ point.
2. (figurative, often derogatory) To outdo (someone) in an argument, especially by pandering or rhetorical convenience.

   He scored points with teachers by promising them higher pay.

   Instead of putting forward meaningful proposals, she's just trying to score political points.

   • 2025 February 19, Paul Clifton, “I am absolutely committed to reforming the railway”, in RAIL, number 1029, page 40:

     The Tories are ideologically opposed to large state-run industries, and the Lib Dems can sniff an opportunity to score points in their freshly won commuting constituencies outside London.

Further reading

• “score points”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• necroptosis, pointscores, prosections