What is the meaning of the phrase ‘Pip at the Post’ in football and when do we use it?
- Find out more about this phrase by reading the transcript below.
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Pip at the Post
This phrase, to pip at the post, means to beat someone at the end of the race. The phrase is probably from horse racing, with the post being the finishing line or post at the end of the race. usually the phrase is used in the passive, as in ‘be pipped at the post‘, and it implies that a front runner is beaten right at the last stages of the race. In football, the phrase is used at the end of a season, when a team catches the leading team, maybe in the last few games, and wins the title.A
- Example: Tottenham are hoping they can pip Chelsea at the post and win the title.

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