compete
Americanverb (used without object)
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competes,
present (3rd person singular)
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competed,
past participle, past
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competing
present participle
idioms
verb
Synonym Usage
Compete, contend, contest mean to strive to outdo or excel. Compete implies having a sense of rivalry and of striving to do one's best as well as to outdo another: to compete for a prize. Contend suggests opposition or disputing as well as rivalry: to contend with an opponent, against obstacles. Contest suggests struggling to gain or hold something, as well as contending or disputing: to contest a position or ground ( in battle ); to contest a decision.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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competesimple
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competessimple
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have competedperfect
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has competedperfect
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am competingprogressive
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are competingprogressive
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is competingprogressive
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have been competingperfect progressive
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has been competingperfect progressive
Past
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competedsimple
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had competedperfect
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was competingprogressive
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were competingprogressive
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had been competingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of compete
First recorded in 1610–20; from Latin competere “to meet, coincide, be fitting, suffice” ( Late Latin: “to seek, ask for”), equivalent to com- “with, together” + petere “to seek”; see com-. The Late Latin and English senses were influenced by competitor
Explanation
In sports you compete against the opposing team. At work you compete for a promotion. With siblings, you compete for everything. Compete means to vie for a goal. The urge to compete is universal and human, from kids who say "Race ya!," to great athletes who manage to achieve the impossible when faced with a worthy opponent. Some people are more inclined to compete than others. They are viewed as competitive and may be accused of turning everything into a competition.
Vocabulary lists containing compete
"Play Ball!"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"At this point I'm working with my team and doctors to get healthy, but I'm not sure if I will be ready to compete at Ultimate Championships next week. More updates to come."
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
“Rookie” actor Dewan, best known for her breakthrough role in “Step Up” alongside Channing Tatum, will dust off her dancing shoes to compete with pro Val Chmerkovskiy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
“Our expanded position reflects our confidence in the country’s deep resource potential and its ability to compete for investment within our portfolio for decades,” Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said in a statement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
With rentals belly up and access to films democratized, there was no further push to innovate, no concerted attempt to compete with the real Hollywood studios.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026
We loved all trucks, and each week, we’d compete to see who could build the biggest and strongest one.
From "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" by William Kamkwamba
Advice from physicians and public health agencies now competes with influencers and content creators, nearly two-thirds of whom have no listed health credentials.
From Slate ● Aug. 27, 2026
The honour of representing Wales is important to her as Finucane normally competes for Great Britain in major events like the Olympics and world championships.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
“And I think anybody enjoys playing with a quarterback who competes, who’s going to throw it all in there, and that’s the mentality he has. ... That’s something that’s been kind of his calling card.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Claude competes with OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini, and customers pay based on the amount of work performed, measured in units called tokens.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
At night, every living thing competes for a chance to be heard.
From "Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacqueline Woodson
Biles, Dominique Dawes, who competed in her third Olympics in 2000, Linda Metheny and Muriel Grossfield are the only women to accomplish the feat for the United States.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
Lynch and Markey have history; they served together in the House and competed in the 2013 special election that sent Markey to the Senate.
From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026
In 2024, Shein’s revenue growth slowed to 21% from 41% a year earlier as Temu competed aggressively for American wallets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
To test this, the team created a multimodal artificial network in which spatial and distributed systems competed for "real estate."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026
Bright colored lights sparkled from the trees, while storefronts competed with one another to be the most festive with their decorations.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
Chiles helped the United States to a team gold medal in 2024, competing on all four events in the team final.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
Ecological opportunity, particularly the absence of competing large predators, may also have allowed animals such as Praearcturus to reach remarkable sizes.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 2, 2026
Amazon knew the merchants’ competing bids and didn’t disclose its new practice, officials said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
She listened to competing arguments, gathered information and then made up her own mind.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
There were merchants advertising their wares, people shouting, strains of music competing for attention.
From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
