runner-up
the competitor, player, or team finishing in second place, as in a race, contest, or tournament.
runners-up, the competitors who do not win a contest but who place ahead of the majority of the contestants and share in prizes or honors, as those who place second, third, and fourth, or in the top ten.
Origin of runner-up
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use runner-up in a sentence
Winners will be rewarded $300,000 and a collaboration with J.Crew, and the two runners-up will receive $100,000.
CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Finalists Announced; Beyoncé Wears Nothing But Glitter | The Fashion Beast Team | July 11, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThe response was enthusiastic, and the city got enough submissions to select 10 finalists and 10 runners up (PDF).
What to Do With the Thousands Displaced by Hurricane Sandy? | Malcolm Jones | November 8, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTRunners-up for the president include “disappointing,” “weak,” “tired,” and “lost.”
Debate Word Clouds: Your One-Word Reax | Sam Schlinkert, Brian Ries | October 4, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTIn media interviews after the Ryan announcement, the veep runners-up were vague about the number of tax releases they submitted.
Romney Asked VP Shortlisters for Ten Years of Tax Returns | Daniel Klaidman | September 13, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTRunners up will win an enviable assortment of our favorite new styles in XL!
The others began chorusing their congratulations at once, looking no more convincing than the runners-up in any beauty contest.
Pagan Passions | Gordon Randall GarrettTaken objectively there isn't that much difference between myself and the ten runners-up.
Sense of Obligation | Henry Maxwell Dempsey (AKA Harry Harrison)As was expected, Buller's easily beat all the outhouses, with Claremont's house as runners-up.
The Loom of Youth | Alec WaughIn football the men were almost equally good, and we were good runners-up for the Championship of Palestine.
With the Judans in the Palestine Campaign | J. H. (John Henry) PattersonIf they do not hold the runners up, the best catcher in the world cannot stop them at their destination.
Pitching in a Pinch | Christy Mathewson
British Dictionary definitions for runner-up
a contestant finishing a race or competition in second place
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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