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:
There was no shortage of heavy-hitting contenders: Tour de France runner-up Remco Evenepoel; Evenepoel’s fellow Belgian Wout van Aert; occasional Pogacar nemesis Mathieu van der Poel; French prodigy Paul Seixas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
Woodhouse will face 2022 runner-up Nathan Aspinall in the last 16, who edged past Dutch debutant Kevin Doets 2-1.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
And while USC has yet to play in the College Football Playoff, Oregon has already made three appearances and finished once as runner-up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
It was understandable, therefore, why Zheng found a first-round defeat in Paris this year difficult to take - even if it was to eventual runner-up Maja Chwalinska after nine months on the sidelines.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
The extra sign announced that the town’s Under-14s team was the third runner-up in the interstate Hundred-Yard Sprint, or that the town was the home of the Illinois Girls’ Under-16s Wrestling semifinalist.
From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
It means that the only financial difference, in prize money at least, for the team finishing runners-up in one of Manchester City's three title-winning seasons is one base payment.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
England's lack of ruthlessness in front of goal has been an occurring theme since 2023 when they finished runners-up to Spain in the World Cup.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
The Lionesses are also not used to being in play-offs, a route they are having to take after finishing runners-up to world champions Spain in their qualifying group.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
The 39-year-old announced his retirement from international football in August after Argentina finished runners-up at the World Cup and following the death of his father Jorge.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
The reporter has already started discussing the Wardraft runners-up wild cards who will replace me and Ren.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
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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.
