runner-up

[ ruhn-er-uhp ]

See synonyms for: runner-up runners-up on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural run·ners-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

First recorded in 1835–45

Dictionary.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 BEAST
The 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 BEAST
Runners-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 BEAST
In 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 BEAST
Runners up will win an enviable assortment of our favorite new styles in XL!
My Big, Fat Photo Spoof | Nancy Upton | September 9, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST

The others began chorusing their congratulations at once, looking no more convincing than the runners-up in any beauty contest.
Pagan Passions | Gordon Randall Garrett
Taken 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 Waugh
In 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) Patterson
If 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

runner-up

nounplural runners-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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