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:
Head coach Michael Carrick says money in itself is not the answer to building a successful side and is adamant the club can compete.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
Since arriving in Westwood, Hitschler has consistently been touted for his toughness and encouraging his players to compete with an unwavering belief — values he developed as a wrestler.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
At the same time, fossil fuels must compete with an array of new energy sources and technologies, whose development has also been aided by artificial intelligence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Investors have cheered the cuts, seeing them as a sign Volkswagen can cut costs to compete with cheaper Chinese rivals.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
Look magazine wanted to compete against its chief publishing rival, Life, which had paid a half million dollars for the exclusive rights to the story of the Mercury 7 project.
From "Women in Space" by Karen Bush Gibson
Advice from physicians and public health agencies now competes with influencers and content creators, nearly two-thirds of whom have no listed health credentials.
From Slate ● Aug. 27, 2026
“There’s always a lot of narratives about Angel, but she competes and plays so hard,” Roberts said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 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
Ingbretson and her husband, who also competes, were hosted in the Australian state of Tasmania last winter, while her mother put up Canadian and Australian competitors in Hayward for this year's world championships.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
The air was still very cold and a cold night was coming, so that the brew, rising from cold water to a rolling boil, gave the good smell that competes successfully with other good smells.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
Before Biles, a U.S. female gymnast had not competed in three Olympic Games in 24 years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
Lynch and Markey have history; they served together in the House and competed in the 2013 special election that sent Markey to the Senate.
From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026
In 2024, Shein’s revenue growth slowed to 21% from 41% a year earlier as Temu competed aggressively for American wallets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
"They may have lived in large groups, where males competed for mates, but also tolerated each other at times for safety in a dangerous environment."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
On those days we competed with one another to take care of her.
From "Kira-Kira" by Cynthia Kadohata
"I'm competing with fast-food restaurants, grocery stores and retail for staff, because they pay more than what we are able to pay," he adds.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
It has also created an unusual problem when the spectacle in the seats begins competing with the one on the court.
From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026
Held on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul –- a vast mountain lake in northern Kyrgyzstan -- athletes have been competing in dozens of disciplines: from intellectual board games to arm-wrestling.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
With few other large predators competing for resources, Praearcturus may have been able to dominate its environment in a way that became much harder once terrestrial ecosystems grew more crowded and complex.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 2, 2026
So along with the naval armaments race between Britain and Germany, European nations were competing in an arms race on land.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
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.
