compete
Americanverb (used without object)
-
competes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
competed,
past participle, past
-
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
-
competesimple
-
competessimple
-
have competedperfect
-
has competedperfect
-
am competingprogressive
-
are competingprogressive
-
is competingprogressive
-
have been competingperfect progressive
-
has been competingperfect progressive
Past
-
competedsimple
-
had competedperfect
-
was competingprogressive
-
were competingprogressive
-
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!"
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Part 1 Vocabulary (Unit 1)
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Part 1 Vocabulary (Unit 1)
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Netflix, widely considered the winner of the streaming wars, is now under scrutiny over how it will better compete against rivals like YouTube, which has claimed a growing share of TV viewing in the U.S.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026
For Nvidia, the company has long been an ideal customer: One that could both reduce its direct exposure to the hyperscalers and wouldn’t ever compete with it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
Attendees strain their voices talking about elections and Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey as they compete with indiscernible house music and the baseball game.
From Slate ● Oct. 20, 2026
In places such as Austin, Texas, and Raleigh, N.C., “buyers are in the best position to negotiate as sellers have a lot of other homes on the market to compete with,” Ng added.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026
After that, we saw them only when they came to watch us compete and cheer us on.
From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles
Oil competes with AI for space in your portfolio.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
That would help Oracle avoid borrowing more money itself, keeping debt costs under control as the company competes against larger tech firms with bigger war chests.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
In the past, OpenAI has used the conference as an opportunity to launch new models and services that reduce costs for software developers—a segment the ChatGPT-maker competes with rival AI company Anthropic to win over.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
The imperative to close all or portions of campuses potentially competes with the concurrent high priority of providing students with safe, up-to-date, fully resourced and inviting education environments.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
At night, every living thing competes for a chance to be heard.
From "Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacqueline Woodson
At 19, Miller competed in The Voice UK, coming third place with coach Jennifer Hudson.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
One suburban Los Angeles 6U team competed in 108 games over the course of a year, even traveling to Texas for a tournament.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
For South Korea, another gaming heavyweight, Park So-yeon became the first woman to represent their national team when she competed in Nagoya.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
The only tournament the golfer known as Lefty has competed in this year was LIV Golf South Africa, where he finished at 7-under par and tied for 48th place, in March.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026
This was what the men of Hellgate competed for: a private cell, a blanket, clean water, a bucket for waste.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
One could read the competing statements carefully and emerge with some more information, but not much more confidence about dinner.
From Salon ● Oct. 19, 2026
“All of the girls are super nice, the campus is beautiful and competing in the Big West is going to be exciting.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2026
Under the proposals, he claims the firm would be competing for contracts from local authorities, meaning they could go "out of business" if they failed.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026
Together, these findings reveal a carefully regulated system in which the brain must balance competing signals to maintain healthy sleep and hormone activity.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026
It felt weird competing with him, so I kind of left him the entire east side of the shopping center.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
