competition

American  

[kom-pi-tish-uhn] / ˌkɒm pɪˈtɪʃ ən /

noun

• competitions
  plural

1. the act of competing; rivalry for supremacy, a prize, etc..

   The competition between the two teams was bitter.

   Synonyms:

   emulation

2. a contest for some prize, honor, or advantage.

   Both girls entered the competition.

   Synonyms:

   struggle

3. the rivalry offered by a competitor.

   The small merchant gets powerful competition from the chain stores.

4. a competitor or competitors.

   What is your competition offering?

5. 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.

6. Ecology. the struggle among organisms, both of the same and of different species, for food, space, and other vital requirements.

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competition British  

/ ˌkɒmpɪˈtɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of competing; rivalry

2. a contest in which a winner is selected from among two or more entrants

3. a series of games, sports events, etc

4. the opposition offered by a competitor or competitors

5. a competitor or competitors offering opposition

6. 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

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competition Scientific  

/ kŏm′pĭ-tĭsh′ən /

1. The simultaneous demand by two or more organisms for limited environmental resources, such as nutrients, living space, or light.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• supercompetition
  noun
• noncompetition
  adjective
• procompetition
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• competitions
  plural

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

competition competitions

Bristol Myers’ sales peaked at $12.8 billion in 2021, and unrestricted competition didn’t arrive until January 2026, seven years after the underlying patent expired.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026

Teams who finish 25th and below will be eliminated from the competition and will not be able to drop into any other European competitions.

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026

When quizzed as to whether the whole narrative surrounding the IPO momentum could be lost if cheaper Chinese competition starts to eat into the market share, Ahn is realistic: “That’s a possibility, yes.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026

Maybe Trey Pipkins III, who McDaniel said remained in the left guard competition, still has a shot.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

“Thirty teams were chosen for the competition, but only ten will reach the final stage. We expect those to be the only people who will actually get significant face-to-face time with Stavros.”

From "City Spies" by James Ponti

Watkins is Villa's record Premier League scorer with 91 goals, part an overall tally of 108 in all competitions since signing from Brentford for £28m in 2020.

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026

Brodeur said this year’s competitions would be streamed online.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

Scandals at the state level have overshadowed the run-up to the national competitions this week in Miami, and one contestant is suing the organization for defamation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

Last season, the 24-year-old matched his shirt number by scoring 20 goals in all competitions, becoming the first Chelsea striker since Diego Costa to reach that mark nine years earlier.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

Jamie’s assessment made total sense considering my experiences with this were recent and only happened at competitions.

From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad

Related Words

• championship
• clash
• event
• fight
• game
• match
• meeting
• race
• rivalry
• sport
• struggle
• tournament
• trial