rival

Pluralrivals

Formsrivals

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A competitor who shares another's goal or strives for the same thing, and whose defeat may be a key aim of the other.

   The chess champion faced his longtime rival in the final round.

   Local newspapers framed the election as a contest between two bitter rivals.

   Similarcompetitor, opponent, adversary, challenger, contender

   Oppositeally, partner

   Note

   The word began beside water: Latin rīvālis meant a person using the same stream as another. Neighbors on one stream share a resource, and sharing can turn into partnership, as in the obsolete "partner" meaning, or into contest, which is the meaning that survived. Culture Club's "Karma Chameleon" (1983) plays it against its near opposite, telling someone they are a lover and not this.

2. 2
   verbtransitive

   To be equal to, match, or even surpass someone or something else in quality or degree.

   Few desserts rival a freshly baked apple pie straight from the oven.

   Her talent rivals that of musicians twice her age.

   Similarmatch, equal, approach

   Note

   Here the verb measures rather than fights: to rival something is to stand level with it. It thrives in the passive with only. In Railway Magazine (1941), C. Hamilton Ellis calls Edinburgh's Waverley approach "rivalled in Europe only by" Venice's. It also appears after to, expressing purpose, as in Margery Allingham's The China Governess (1963), where a family sets out to build a palace "to rival Nonesuch."

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A person or thing whose claims to quality or distinction are seen as equal to another's.

   In sheer elegance, the old cathedral has no rival in the region.

   Critics agree the novel stands without rival among her later works.

   Similarequal, match, peer, parallel

4. 4
   adjective

   Competing with another for superiority, making the same claims or pursuing the same aims.

   Rival factions within the party fought openly for control.

   The deal finally united two formerly rival firms.

   Similarcompeting, opposing, conflicting

   Oppositeallied

   Note

   An adjective that almost always sits before its noun: rival lovers, rival claims, rival firms. Macaulay writes of "two rival confederacies of statesmen." It does not take degrees. Nothing is "more rival" or "very rival" than another, so to stress the rivalry, strengthen the noun instead, as in bitterly opposed factions.

5. 5
   verbtransitive

   To oppose or compete with another, contending for the same goal or position.

   Several startups now rival the established giants in the market.

   The new airline rivals older carriers on every major route.

   Similarchallenge

   Note

   A transitive verb that takes its opponent directly, with no preposition: you rival someone, not rival with them. The field of contest follows with in, as in "to rival somebody in love." The spelling splits by region: American English writes rivaled and rivaling, and British English doubles the consonant in rivalled and rivalling.

6. 6
   verbtransitive

   To strive to equal or outdo another, often by emulating what they do well.

   The apprentice longed to rival the master craftsmen of his guild.

   Each generation rivals the last in ambition and invention.

   Similaremulate, equal, match

   Note

   The effort rather than the result. Where the "match" meaning says two things already stand equal, this one describes the striving to get there, close to emulate. Dryden's 1697 translation of Virgil shows its elevated, poetic use: "to rival thunder in its rapid course." In everyday prose, context usually decides whether rival means trying to equal or actually equaling.

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