own someone
verb

- if you own someone, you completely defeat them in a game, competition, or argument

- to defeat someone thoroughly, to dominate them, or be significantly better than them (often used in competitive contexts like gaming, sports, or even verbal sparring, where one party clearly outperforms or outmaneuvers the other)

Collins Dictionary

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PHRASE ORIGIN

In the 1990s and 2000s the special meaning of "owned" emerged from online gaming culture, particularly in first-person shooters and real-time strategy games such as Quake and StarCraft.

During the 2000s the usage read through online forums and IRC chat, and by the 2010s it had entered general colloquial speech to mean "to decisively defeat in any context."

The term shows how digital communities create and spread linguistic innovations that eventually enter mainstream vocabulary.

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ALVA OWNS WILLIE

In 1894, Alva Vanderbilt did the unthinkable: she filed for divorce from one of the wealthiest men in America. At the time, divorce was a social death sentence—especially for women. But Alva, born into fading Southern wealth, had never been one to follow quietly. Her marriage to William K. Vanderbilt had promised security, but after years of public affairs—especially a flagrant one with Parisian socialite Nellie Neustretter—Alva had had enough. Humiliation, she decided, was not her fate.

Divorce then wasn’t private or peaceful. It meant proving fault, surviving scandal, and enduring exile from the glittering circles of Gilded Age society. Her lawyer begged her to reconsider. Society friends turned their backs. But Alva pressed on. The divorce made front-page news. “W.K. Vanderbilt Loses,” declared the New York Times, noting she’d gained full custody of the children and a vast fortune—up to $325 million in today’s dollars.

Even so, Alva wasn’t finished. She arranged a prestigious marriage for her daughter to the Duke of Marlborough, making Consuelo the first American duchess and restoring her own social clout. More importantly, Alva’s boldness cracked the polished veneer of marital perfection in high society. Inspired, other women followed her lead, seeking divorces of their own.

Alva later claimed, “I always do everything first. I blaze the trail for the rest to walk in.” And she did. By daring to leave, she opened a door many thought permanently shut—proving that in the Gilded Age, the most radical luxury wasn’t money or mansions. It was the ability to stand one's ground!

Helga & Paul Smith

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SYNONYMS

beat, blow away, clobber, crush, destroy, dominate, flatten, floor, hammer, humble, annihilate, knock out, lay waste to, leave in the dust, mop the floor with, outclass, outdo, outperform, outplay, OWN, pummel, put to shame, run circles around, slaughter, steamroll, stomp, thrash, trounce, wipe out, shellac, whoop, whip, wipe the floor with, wallop, wreck, zap

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SMUGGLE
 OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“Many people say that female emancipation began In 1894,... with the OWNING of William K. Vanderbilt by his then wife Alva."  

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P L E A S E   S U P P O R T   O W A D

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