I. cham ‧ pi ‧ on 1 W3 /ˈtʃæmpiən/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1100-1200 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: Medieval Latin campio ]
1 . someone or something that has won a competition, especially in sport:
the world heavyweight boxing champion
the Olympic champion
reigning/defending champion (=the champion at the present time)
2 . champion of something/somebody someone who publicly fights for and defends an aim or principle, such as the rights of a group of people:
a champion of women’s rights
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + champion
▪ an Olympic champion
She's a top international athlete and an Olympic champion.
▪ the world champion
At 22, he was the youngest world champion in the history of the game.
▪ the defending/reigning champion (=the present one)
Cheah defeated the defending champion in the National Grand Prix.
▪ a former champion
The former champion suffered a bad defeat.
▪ a junior champion
The cycling team includes British junior champion, Andrew Wright.
▪ a national champion
At 16, Gallois is France's youngest national champion.
▪ a boxing/tennis/golf etc champion
The show will be opened by the former world boxing champion, Chris Eubank.
▪ a heavyweight/middleweight/featherweight etc champion (=one in a particular class of boxers, organized according to their weight)
Graham's reign as middleweight champion ended last night.
▪ the 100/200 etc metres champion (=one in a running race)
She's the world 3,000 metres champion.
■ verbs
▪ become champion
Every sportsperson dreams of becoming a world champion.
▪ be crowned champion (=become champion)
In 2007, the Springboks were crowned the rugby champions of the world.
■ champion + NOUN
▪ a champion swimmer/boxer/cyclist etc
Lester Piggott is a former champion jockey.
II. champion 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive] written
to publicly fight for and defend an aim or principle, such as the rights of a group of people:
She championed the cause of religious freedom.
• • •
THESAURUS
■ someone who wins something
▪ winner the person or thing that wins a race, competition etc:
A prize of £500 will be awarded to the winner.
▪ the winning team/player/horse etc the one that wins:
The winning team will go through to the grand final in Milan.
▪ champion ( also the title holder American English ) someone who has won a competition, especially in sport:
He became the heavyweight boxing champion.
▪ record-holder someone who has achieved the fastest speed, the longest distance etc in a sport:
the world high-jump record-holder