Adjacent Words

Rival definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

RI'VAL, n. [L. rivalis; Heb. to contend, to strive. See Raffle.]
1. One who is in pursuit of the same object as another; one striving to reach or obtain something which another is attempting to obtain, and which one only can possess; a competitor; as rivals in love; rivals for a crown. Love will not patiently bear a rival.
2. One striving to equal or exceed another in excellence; as two rivals in eloquence.
3. An antagonist; a competitor in any pursuit or strife.
RI'VAL, a. Having the same pretensions or claims; standing in competition for superiority; as rival lovers; rival claims or pretensions.
Equal in years and rival in renown.
RI'VAL, v.t.
1. To stand in competition with; to strive to gain the object which another is contending for; as, to rival one in love.
2. To strive to equal or excel; to emulate.
To rival thunder in its rapid course.
RI'VAL, v.i. To be competitors. [Not in use.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the contestant you hope to defeat; "he had respect for his rivals"; "he wanted to know what the competition was doing" [syn: rival, challenger, competitor, competition, contender] v
1: be equal to in quality or ability; "Nothing can rival cotton for durability"; "Your performance doesn't even touch that of your colleagues"; "Her persistence and ambition only matches that of her parents" [syn: equal, touch, rival, match]
2: be the rival of, be in competition with; "we are rivaling for first place in the race"

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin rivalis one using the same stream as another, rival in love, from rivalis of a stream, from rivus stream — more at run Date: 1577 1. a. one of two or more striving to reach or obtain something that only one can possess b. one striving for competitive advantage 2. obsolete companion, associate 3. one that equals another in desired qualities ; peer II. adjective Date: 1590 having the same pretensions or claims ; competing III. verb (rivaled or rivalled; rivaling or rivalling) Date: 1605 intransitive verb to act as a rival ; compete transitive verb 1. to be in competition with 2. to strive to equal or excel ; emulate 3. to possess qualities or aptitudes that approach or equal (those of another)

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a person competing with another for the same objective. 2 a person or thing that equals another in quality. 3 (attrib.) being a rival or rivals (a rival firm). --v.tr. (rivalled, rivalling; US rivaled, rivaling) 1 be the rival of or comparable to. 2 seem or claim to be as good as. Etymology: L rivalis, orig. = using the same stream, f. rivus stream

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Rival Ri"val, n. [F. rival (cf. It. rivale), L. rivales two neigbors having the same brook in common, rivals, fr. rivalis belonging to a brook, fr. rivus a brook. Cf. Rivulet, Rete.] 1. A person having a common right or privilege with another; a partner. [Obs.] If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus, The rivals of my watch, bid them make haste. --Shak. 2. One who is in pursuit of the same object as another; one striving to reach or obtain something which another is attempting to obtain, and which one only can posses; a competitor; as, rivals in love; rivals for a crown. Note: ``Rivals, in the primary sense of the word, are those who dwell on the banks of the same stream. But since, as all experience shows, there is no such fruitful source of coutention as a water right, it would continually happen that these occupants of the opposite banks would be at strife with one another in regard of the periods during which they severally had a right to the use of the stream . . . And thus 'rivals' . . . came to be used of any who were on any grounds in more or less unfriendly competition with one another.'' --Trench. Syn: Competitor; emulator; antagonist.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Rival Ri"val, a. Having the same pretensions or claims; standing in competition for superiority; as, rival lovers; rival claims or pretensions. The strenuous conflicts and alternate victories of two rival confederacies of statesmen. --Macaulay.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Rival Ri"val, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rivaledor Rivalled; p. pr. & vb. n. Rivaling or Rivalling.] 1. To stand in competition with; to strive to gain some object in opposition to; as, to rival one in love. 2. To strive to equal or exel; to emulate. To rival thunder in its rapid course. --Dryden.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Rival Ri"val, v. i. To be in rivalry. [Obs.] --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(rivals, rivalling, rivalled) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. Note: in AM, use 'rivaling', 'rivaled' 1. Your rival is a person, business, or organization who you are competing or fighting against in the same area or for the same things. The world champion finished more than two seconds ahead of his nearest rival... N-COUNT 2. If you say that someone or something has no rivals or is without rival, you mean that it is best of its type. ...a wonderfully fragrant wine which has no rivals in the Rhone... N-COUNT: with brd-neg 3. If you say that one thing rivals another, you mean that they are both of the same standard or quality. Cassette recorders cannot rival the sound quality of CDs... VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. Competitor, antagonist, opponent, emulator. II. a. Competing, emulating, emulous, opposing. III. v. a. 1. Oppose, compete with, contend with. 2. Emulate, try to equal or excel. 3. Match, equal, be equal to.

Moby Thesaurus

admit of comparison, adversary, adversative, adverse, alien, amount to, antagonist, antagonistic, antagonize, anti, antipathetic, antithetic, approach, attempt, balance, battle, battler, be commensurable, be comparable, beat against, beat up against, belligerent, belted knight, bickerer, blade, bravo, brawler, break even, breast the wave, buck, buffet, buffet the waves, bully, bullyboy, challenge, challenge comparison, clashing, close with, coequal, combat, combatant, come to, come up to, compare, compare to, compare with, compeer, compete, compete with, competing, competition, competitive, competitor, con, conflicting, contend, contend against, contend with, contender, contest, contestant, contradictory, contrary, cope, correspond, correspond to, corrival, counter, counterpart, cross, cutthroat, disaccordant, disputant, dissentient, ditto, draw, duelist, emulate, emulator, emulous, enemy, enforcer, entrant, equal, equipollent, equivalent, even, even off, fellow, fencer, feuder, fight, fight against, fighter, fighting cock, foilsman, fractious, gamecock, gladiator, goon, gorilla, grapple with, hatchet man, hood, hoodlum, hooligan, hostile, in competition, in rivalry, inimical, jockey, join battle with, jouster, keep pace with, knight, knot, labor against, like, match, match up with, mate, measure up, measure up to, meet, militant, militate against, negative, noncooperative, not compare with, obstinate, offer resistance, opponent, oppose, opposed, opposing, opposite, opposite number, opposition, oppositional, oppositive, oppugnant, outvie, overthwart, parallel, partake of, peer, perverse, player, plug-ugly, quarreler, reach, recalcitrant, refractory, reluct, reluctate, repugnant, resemble, rioter, rivaling, rough, rowdy, ruffian, run abreast, run to, sabreur, scrapper, scuffler, squabbler, stack up with, stem the tide, strive, strive against, strong arm, strong-arm man, strong-armer, struggle, struggle against, struggle with, struggler, swashbuckler, sword, swordplayer, swordsman, take on, test one another, the field, thug, tie, tilter, touch, tough, try, tussler, twin, uncooperative, unfavorable, unfriendly, unpropitious, vie, vie with, vier, vying, wrangler