rivalnoun [ C ]
uk/ˈraɪ.vəl/us/ˈraɪ.vəl/C1 a person, group, etc. competing with others for the same thing or in the same area:
He beat his closest/nearest rival by 20 marks.
The companies produce rival versions of the toy.
More examples
- The company has decided not to go through with the takeover of its smaller rival.
- The airline admitted being involved in a dirty tricks campaign to win customers from their rival.
- She hired an assassin to eliminate her rival.
- Big supermarkets can undercut all rivals, especially small high-street shops.
- They beat several other rivals for the contract.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Enemies & rivals
- adversary
- antagonist
- arch-enemy
- enemy
- foe
- frenemy
- nemesis
- opponent
- scalp
- sworn enemy
- them
- them and us idiom
rivalverb [ T ]
uk/ˈraɪ.vəl/us/ˈraɪ.vəl/-ll- or US usually -l-C2 to be as good, clever, beautiful, etc. as someone or something else:
No computer can rival a human brain for/in complexity.
The beauty of the country is only rivalled by (= is as great in degree as) the violence of its politics.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Competing and contending (non-sporting)
- cat
- challenge
- close-run
- competitive
- contend
- contender
- contest
- contestant
- entry
- go in for sth
- jockey
- one-upmanship
- pit sb/sth against sb/sth
- pit your wits against sb/sth idiom
- play cat and mouse idiom
- play sb/sth off against sb/sth
- race
- rivalry
- scramble
- square
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Being or appearing similar or the same