Rival

/ˈɹaɪvəl/ · noun

Meaning

A competitor (person, team, company, etc.) with the same goal as another, or striving to attain the same thing. Defeating a rival may be a primary or necessary goal of a competitor..

Definitions by Sense

1. A competitor (person, team, company, etc.) with the same goal as another, or striving to attain the same thing. Defeating a rival may be a primary or necessary goal of a competitor.
2. Someone or something with similar claims of quality or distinction as another.
3. (obsolete) One having a common right or privilege with another; a partner.
4. Having the same pretensions or claims; standing in competition for superiority.
5. (transitive) To oppose or compete with.
6. To be equal to, or match, or to surpass another.
7. To strive to equal or excel; to emulate.

Example Sentences

Chris is my biggest rival in the 400-metre race.

Every day is like survival / You're my lover, not my rival

The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you[…] "share the things you love with the world" and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention.

As a social historian, he has no rival.

If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus, / The rivals of my watch, bid them make haste.

rival lovers

rival claims or pretensions

The strenuous conflicts and alternate victories of two rival confederacies of statesmen.

Synonyms for rival

Antonyms for rival

Related Words

Word Forms

• rivals
• rivaling
• rivalling
• rivaled
• rivalled

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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