(~s)
1.
The ~s of a game, contest, or struggle are the people who are defeated or beaten.
...the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills, the winners and ~s of this year’s Super Bowl.
? winner
N-COUNT: usu pl
•
If someone is a good ~, they accept that they have lost a game or contest without complaining. If someone is a bad ~, they hate losing and complain about it.
I’m sure the prime minister will turn out to be a good ~...
You are a very bad ~ Lou, aren’t you?
PHRASE: usu v-link PHR
2.
If you refer to someone as a ~, you have a low opinion of them because you think they are always unsuccessful. (INFORMAL)
They’ve only been trained to compete with other men, so a successful woman can make them feel like a real ~.
= failure
N-COUNT disapproval
3.
People who are ~s as the result of an action or event, are in a worse situation because of it or do not benefit from it.
Some of Britain’s top business leaders of the 1980s became the country’s greatest ~s in the recession.
? winner
N-COUNT: usu pl