Definition of RIVAL

rival

Plural: rivals

Noun

  • the contestant you hope to defeat
    • "he had respect for his rivals"
  • 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.
  • Someone or something with similar claims of quality or distinction as another.
  • One having a common right or privilege with another; a partner.

Verb

Verb Forms: rivaled, rivaling, rivals, rivalled, rivalling

  • To compete or strive to be equal or superior to.
  • be equal to in quality or ability
    • "Nothing can rival cotton for durability"
  • be the rival of, be in competition with
    • "we are rivaling for first place in the race"
  • To oppose or compete with.
  • To be equal to, or match, or to surpass another.
  • To strive to equal or excel; to emulate.

Adj

  • Having the same pretensions or claims; standing in competition for superiority.

Examples

  • As a social historian, he has no rival.
  • Chris is my biggest rival in the 400-metre race.
  • No player can RIVAL her Words With Friends scores when she gets the ’Z’.
  • rival claims or pretensions
  • rival lovers
  • to rival somebody in love

Origin / Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin rīvālis (literally “person using the same stream as another”).

Scrabble Score: 8

rival: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
rival: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
rival: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 10

rival: valid Words With Friends Word