medal

American  

[med-l] / ˈmɛd l /

noun

• medals
  plural

1. a flat piece of metal, often a disk but sometimes a cross, star, or other form, usually bearing an inscription or design, issued to commemorate a person, action, or event, or given as a reward for bravery, merit, or the like.

   a gold medal for the best swimmer.

2. a similar object bearing a religious image, as of a saint.

   a Saint Christopher's medal.

---

verb (used with object)

• medals,
  present (3rd person singular)
• medaled,
  past participle,  past
• medalled,
  past participle,  past (especially British)
• medaling,
  present participle
• medalling
  present participle (especially British)

1. to decorate or honor with a medal.

verb (used without object)

• medals,
  present (3rd person singular)
• medaled,
  past participle,  past
• medalled,
  past participle,  past (especially British)
• medaling,
  present participle
• medalling
  present participle (especially British)

1. to receive a medal, especially in a sporting event.

   He medaled in three of four races.

medal British  

/ ˈmɛdəl /

noun

1. a small flat piece of metal bearing an inscription or image, given as an award or commemoration of some outstanding action, event, etc

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verb

1. (tr) to honour with a medal

2. informal (intr) (in sport) to win a medal

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• medallic
  adjective
• unmedaled
  adjective
• unmedalled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• medals
  plural

Participles

• medaling
  present
• medalling
  present
• medaled
  past
• medalled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• medal
  simple
• medals
  simple
• have medaled
  perfect
• have medalled
  perfect
• has medaled
  perfect
• has medalled
  perfect
• am medaling
  progressive
• am medalling
  progressive
• are medaling
  progressive
• are medalling
  progressive
• is medaling
  progressive
• is medalling
  progressive
• have been medaling
  perfect progressive
• have been medalling
  perfect progressive
• has been medaling
  perfect progressive
• has been medalling
  perfect progressive

Past

• medaled
  simple
• medalled
  simple
• had medaled
  perfect
• had medalled
  perfect
• was medaling
  progressive
• was medalling
  progressive
• were medaling
  progressive
• were medalling
  progressive
• had been medaling
  perfect progressive
• had been medalling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will medal
  simple
• will have medaled
  perfect
• will have medalled
  perfect
• will be medaling
  progressive
• will be medalling
  progressive
• will have been medaling
  perfect progressive
• will have been medalling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of medal

1580–90; earlier medaille < Middle French < Italian medaglia copper coin worth a halfpenny < Vulgar Latin *medalia, variant (by dissimilation) of Late Latin mediālia, noun use of neuter plural (taken as feminine singular) of mediālis medial

Explanation

A medal is an award for some contest or achievement. You might win a medal for coming in third place at the cupcake baking championship. A medal is often a flat piece of metal that's stamped with an inscription or design and is given in honor of winning a race, serving in battle, or another remarkable accomplishment. Scholars, athletes, and soldiers all might win medals. Originally, a medal was a "trinket," and it wasn't until the 18th century that it began to mean "reward for merit."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

medal medals medaled medalled medaling medalling

His side beat hosts Japan 1-0 in the final and, afterwards, Lee held up his gold medal and triumphantly announced he was "not going to the military".

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

She looks set to be a major medal threat at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

And the Daily Express claims in an exclusive that a new medal for "999 heroes" injured during service is set to be approved by King Charles.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

Mu Xinyue called it "the happiest moment of my life" after she became the first woman to win an Asian Games gold medal in eSports.

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

Later that evening, as I waited with the other winners to be called to the podium for the medal ceremony, I thought about all the upheaval and change I’d just been through.

From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles

The hosts finished with 83 golds, a distant second in the medals table behind China with 169.

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

Towards the end of day 12, China were sitting pretty at the top of the medals table with a whopping 152 golds.

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

Gareth Bale, the Welsh marvel, who has more Champions League winner's medals than the rest of this list combined.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

And the reallocation of medals has become commonplace in athletics as a result of positive drugs tests that can emerge long after events have taken place.

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026

The pumpkin seeds wore little silver patches, like French medals, and Nokomis blessed them gently as she pushed them into the soft new earth.

From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich

The dog that almost medaled at the Olympics.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 19, 2026

The U.S. has never medaled in women’s curling at the Winter Games, finishing fourth in 2002 and 2006.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2026

“Obviously it wasn’t my best performances, but at the end of the day, whoever medaled, medaled, and that’s what’s so exciting, because you just never know with gymnastics,” she said.

From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2024

It wasn’t enough to keep the U.S. from heading home from the World Cup empty-handed, and after 87 years of waiting Canada has again medaled on one of basketball’s biggest stages.

From Washington Times ● Sep. 10, 2023

Then again, given that this was my first season as an elite junior gymnast, I’d medaled more than I thought I would.

From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles

I doubt I had ever seen so many uniformed, braided and medalled men under one roof.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2018

And so to the IAAF, now ruled by the World Anti-Doping Agency’s almost comically damning report to have medalled in cheating and corruption.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 15, 2016

"For Deibold to medal is a testament to how strong our team is, because any of us could have medalled."

From Reuters ● Feb. 18, 2014

But few athletes were described as having medalled, and none of having podiumed.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 10, 2012

If the Senate only medalled enough, that was all he asked.

From Punchinello, Volume 1, No. 11, June 11, 1870 by Various

With one surgically rebuilt knee and a completely torn ACL in the other, the 41-year-old Vonn gutted her way to the starting gate and had a real chance of medaling before her violent crash.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 14, 2026

After medaling in duets at two world championships, he retired again.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2024

Olympic and Paralympic Committee does pay Team USA athletes for medaling but not for competing in the Olympics, although they can apply for grants to support their training and travel.

From Slate ● Aug. 9, 2024

The finalists who came close to medaling were:

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 5, 2023

I jumped right up and finished the event, but I knew I had no chance of medaling now.

From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles

The United States finished with 69 points with Japan scoring 68 and Italy medalling for the first time in the team event with 60.

From Barron's ● Feb. 8, 2026

So in terms of "medalling" the countries, it has to be bronze to the Netherlands, silver to Jamaica and shiny gold to the Czech Republic.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 6, 2012

Twitter users have spent days exploiting the Scooby Doo-inspired "we could have got gold if it wasn't for you medalling kids" gag.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2012

"It is rather a dangerous pastime, Mr. Lenoir, this medalling fancy of yours," he said.

From Jack Harkaway's Boy Tinker Among The Turks Book Number Fifteen in the Jack Harkaway Series by Bracebridge Hemyng

Related Words

• gold
• reward