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:
In response, a Lilly spokesperson said: “Rather than compete on the merits of its products, Novo is asking a court to stop Lilly from communicating the results of that trial.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
Still, Novo blowing its massive lead raises fresh questions about the ability of European companies to compete in key technologies defining the global economy, financial and economic analysts say.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
I’m ready to go out there and compete and give this organization and city everything that I’ve got.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
Philippine outsourcing companies compete directly with rivals in India and elsewhere for contracts from multinational corporations.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Still, only five of us would ultimately compete in Rio, and our team name needed to reflect that.
From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles
Dow Jones competes with Thomson Reuters in financial news and information services.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 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
Other newly listed companies that have slipped in recent weeks include Innio, which competes with Caterpillar and others to sell reciprocating engines used to provide off-grid power.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
It also competes with Trader Joe’s, Walmart and Amazon, which have steadily gained customers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
Justice encouraged Will to join the Boy Scouts, and when he was invited to join his school’s Academic Team, which competes in quiz bowls, she insisted that he try it.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
Swimmer Faye Rogers impressively brought her success at the Paralympics back to Glasgow with gold in the pool - and then competed in the non-para event as well.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
Hearn, who competed in three Olympic Summer Games in canoeing, told US media he visited the refurbished pool after a long bike ride and noticed a piece of partially detached liner.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
YouTube page in March featuring a special edition in which drag queen Monét X Change, singer Rebecca Black and comedian Brennan Lee Mulligan competed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
Some startup founders turned to cheaper AI models after Anthropic released Claude Design, which competed with its partner Figma.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
College teams from five states competed in the first indoor track meet of the season, but the big event, the mile run, was won by a high-school senior.
From "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin
It will “cost a heck of a lot of capital” to achieve SpaceX’s vision for everything from AI to competing in mobile internet services.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
The LP is also a whirlwind of competing genres in which John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr flex their muscles and prove that they’re at home in virtually any genre.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
Situational also weighed a competing offer from Millennium Management.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
By secondary school, Woodward, who grew up in Eccleshall, was competing internationally and training 20 hours a week in the pool and gym at Ponds Forge Sports Centre.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
It’s almost like they’re competing to see whose mouth will catch on fire first.
From "Shouting at the Rain" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
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.
