To outmanoeuvre someone is to get the better of them by using a cleverer plan or a more skilful move — you win by thinking and positioning, not just by being stronger. Teams outmanoeuvre each other in sport; companies outmanoeuvre rivals; in politics, one side outmanoeuvres the other. The word can be quite physical (a player slipping past a defender), but just as often it is about plans: who saw further ahead. It is a little formal and a little British in spelling. Though actually, American English writes the same word outmaneuver — same meaning, different letters. Taiwan textbooks often keep the British -oe- spelling, but you will meet both. Manoeuvre itself is a planned move; out- here is the 'do it better than' prefix, the same competitive out- as in outlast and outnumber. It is not only an army word, even though that is where a lot of people first met it.