medal
Americannoun
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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.
-
a similar object bearing a religious image, as of a saint.
a Saint Christopher's medal.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
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(tr) to honour with a medal
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informal (intr) (in sport) to win a medal
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
medalsimple
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medalssimple
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have medaledperfect
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have medalledperfect
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has medaledperfect
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has medalledperfect
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am medalingprogressive
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am medallingprogressive
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are medalingprogressive
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are medallingprogressive
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is medalingprogressive
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is medallingprogressive
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have been medalingperfect progressive
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have been medallingperfect progressive
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has been medalingperfect progressive
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has been medallingperfect progressive
Past
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medaledsimple
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medalledsimple
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had medaledperfect
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had medalledperfect
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was medalingprogressive
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was medallingprogressive
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were medalingprogressive
-
were medallingprogressive
-
had been medalingperfect progressive
-
had been medallingperfect progressive
Future
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."
Vocabulary lists containing medal
Commonly Confused Words, List 1
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for July 31–August 6, 2021
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List 1
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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:
"The best thing for me would be to go back to Cameroon and take the medal, but I don't want to go back because of the politics there," she says.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
In 2025, she won a silver medal on the floor at the World Championships in Jakarta.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
A first Welsh women's vault for 32 years, a first bars medal in history.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Adam Ramsay-Peaty, however, appeared at a loss after his second bronze medal of the Commonwealth Games.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Matthias pointed at the medal in Captain Snow’s talons.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
She watched the 20-year-old Roper identical twins provide one of Wales' stories of Glasgow so far in winning bronze medals within a couple of hours of each other.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Even so, it is not Hawa's medals that feature most prominently in the stories Lamboria remembers hearing about him at home.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Scotland's most decorated Games has 14 medals of his own, but Evans now has her first after edging out her rivals in 100m breaststroke.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
She went on to win two gold medals at the Para-cycling Road World Cup in May 2025 in the C2 class – before being suspended a month later.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
She’d won individual gold medals at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics and had been on the national team since 2000.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
The dog that almost medaled at the Olympics.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 19, 2026
“Horrific” is not a word you normally hear from an athlete who has just medaled in a big-time race.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2024
“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
“We don’t lose relays. We don’t lose swim-offs. We’re here to win gold medals,” he barked at his team, according to Kieran Smith, another Nesty swimmer who medaled at the Tokyo Olympics.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 29, 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
He's medalled and ribboned, and starred and crossed, and I don't-know-what all'd, like a born nobleman.
From Little Dorrit by Dickens, Charles
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
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
He started on the lower-level North American Cup circuit, racing 16 times between Nov. 7 and Dec. 20 and medaling in every race — seven golds, seven silvers, two bronzes.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 19, 2022
In her final skate, her participation abruptly became moot when her performance, filled with falls and stumbles, eradicated her chance at medaling.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 18, 2022
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 Hemyng, Bracebridge
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.
