avere la meglio

Italian

Literally, “to have the best”.

avére la meglio (first-person singular present (with syntactic gemination after the verb) hò la meglio, first-person singular past historic èbbi la meglio or ébbi la meglio, past participle avùto la meglio, first-person singular future avrò la meglio, first-person singular subjunctive àbbia la meglio, second-person singular imperative àbbi la meglio, auxiliary avére)

to prevail
solo il più forte può avere la meglio
only the strongest one can prevail
(intransitive) to get the best of [with a or su ‘someone/something’]
- 2019, George Orwell, translated by Nicola Gardini, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mondadori:
  Alla fine la tentazione di scoprirlo ebbe la meglio sulla paura; e Winston si infilò una mano in tasca.
  In the end the temptation to find out overcame his fear; he slipped a hand into his pocket.
  (literally, “At the end the temptation to discover it got the best of fear; and Winston slipped a hand into his pocket.”)