competition
Americannoun
-
competitions
plural
-
the act of competing; rivalry for supremacy, a prize, etc..
The competition between the two teams was bitter.
- Synonyms:
- emulation
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a contest for some prize, honor, or advantage.
Both girls entered the competition.
- Synonyms:
- struggle
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the rivalry offered by a competitor.
The small merchant gets powerful competition from the chain stores.
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a competitor or competitors.
What is your competition offering?
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Sociology. rivalry between two or more persons or groups for an object desired in common, usually resulting in a victor and a loser but not necessarily involving the destruction of the latter.
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Ecology. the struggle among organisms, both of the same and of different species, for food, space, and other vital requirements.
noun
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the act of competing; rivalry
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a contest in which a winner is selected from among two or more entrants
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a series of games, sports events, etc
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the opposition offered by a competitor or competitors
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a competitor or competitors offering opposition
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ecology the struggle between individuals of the same or different species for food, space, light, etc, when these are inadequate to supply the needs of all
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of competition
First recorded in 1595–1605; from Late Latin competītiōn-, stem of competītiō “agreement, rivalry,” from competīt(us) “agreed, met” (past participle of competere “to agree, come together, meet”; see compete ( def. )) + -iō -ion; sense influenced by competitor
Explanation
If you are trying to win or attempting to prove you're the best, you're in a competition. The word also describes your opponent in sports, business, and politics. If you're trying to beat out someone else — whether in the Olympics or a pie-baking contest — it's a competition, and the other contestants are called the competition too. If you describe something as a "friendly competition," you're saying the outcome isn't critical, or there's no money involved. If you do something impressive in order to win, people will say competition brings out the best in you. If you try to injure your opponent, they'll say it brings out the worst.
Vocabulary lists containing competition
List 1
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The Industrial Revolution - Introductory
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Life Science: Ecosystems
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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:
For all the camaraderie in the air, there is also some competition.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
Volkswagen’s supervisory board this month approved a plan to cut 100,000 jobs and halve its model portfolio, in part due to the strain of increasing competition.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Additionally, the team said Palantir has “a very strong demand backdrop for its AI and automation software,” and faces little competition there from other AI and software providers.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
The Royal Observatory Greenwich has announced the winner of its Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition for an image of the Shark Nebula.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
The great collaboration was destined to become the great competition.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
An impressive seven-match winning start to this campaign in all competitions - nine in successive league games dating back to April - backed up that belief.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
Their 11-year-old daughter’s schedule is a crazy quilt of dance classes and competitions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
After he was contacted by the BBC, Hall suggested he would no longer be running competitions in a social media post.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
She led an apparently comfortable life, residing with her parents and pursuing show-horse competitions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
If I had competitions, or if practice ran late, I’d have to take a rain check on the MSA.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
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.
