From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishscore pointsscore pointsa) (also score off somebody) to say or do something in an attempt to prove that you are better or cleverer than someone else Too many MPs use debates as a chance to score political points.score points over/off Advertising may be used to score points off the competition. b) informal to do or say something to please someone or to make them respect youscore points with You’ll score points with your girlfriend if you send her roses. → score
Examples from the Corpus
score points• How well she could keep control and use words and manipulate their meanings and score points.• When he is good, like he was against Detroit, their offense can score points.• When that gap is found, the attacker exploits it by unleashing a rapid barrage of kicks and punches to score points.• Even when scoring points at an astonishing pace, no opponent has been knocked out of a game.• Reagan had already scored points by crossing the stage before the debate to shake hands with the startled Carter.• People didn't try and score points off each other - contributions were acknowledged and applauded, rather than criticized or tested to destruction.• Of course, PeÜek's collection automatically scores points over the competition by virtue of its uniqueness.• National parks is a gold mine for scoring points with constituents, while anything in Commerce is a gold mine, period. 