runner-up
Americannoun
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runners-up
plural
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the competitor, player, or team finishing in second place, as in a race, contest, or tournament.
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runners-up, the competitors who do not win a contest but who place ahead of the majority of the contestants and share in prizes or honors, as those who place second, third, and fourth, or in the top ten.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of runner-up
First recorded in 1835–45
Explanation
In a competition, the runner-up is usually the person who comes in second place. In the Olympics, an athlete who wins a silver medal can be called a runner-up. In beauty pageants, there are often first, second, and third-place winners, followed by a runner-up. At the state fair, if your pig gets a blue ribbon and your sister's gets a red one, it means your pig won, and your sister's pig was the runner-up. The earliest use of this word, in the 1840s, was in dog racing.
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:
Only runner-up “La Bola Negra,” a totally different kind of epic, has any separation from the rest of the pack.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
Milwaukee still threw a parade for those runner-up Brewers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
Before that, he led technology coverage at the monthly retail trade periodical Chain Store Age, where he was runner-up for a Jesse H. Neal Award.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026
Her scalps included former Olympic champion Belinda Bencic, the 2024 Wimbledon runner-up Jasmine Paolini, and world number six Elina Svitolina.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026
“You know what they say — the first runner-up is important in case anything should happen to Miss Teen Dream,” Shanti called.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
Last season they finished eight points clear of arch rivals and runners-up Real Madrid.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026
England welcome back the experienced Amy Cokayne at hooker as their 41-match unbeaten run goes on the line against Rugby World Cup runners-up Canada in Toronto on Friday.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
The difference in prize money was £900,000, with the runners-up going into the Europa League.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
England also finished as runners-up in 1975, when the tournament was contested in a league format.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
On the fuzzy black-and-white screen, Gary Collins starts announcing the runners-up.
From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
