com ‧ pet ‧ i ‧ tor /kəmˈpetətə, kəmˈpetɪtə $ -ər/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ competition , ↑ competitor , ↑ competitiveness ; adjective : ↑ competitive ≠ UNCOMPETITIVE , ↑ competing ; verb : ↑ compete ; adverb : ↑ competitively ]
1 . a person, team, company etc that is competing with another:
Last year they sold twice as many computers as their competitors.
major/main competitors
The company’s four major competitors have nothing to rival the new product.
2 . someone who takes part in a competition:
Two of the competitors failed to turn up for the race.
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COLLOCATIONS
■ adjectives
▪ a major competitor
Japan soon became a major competitor in the electronics industry.
▪ somebody's main/chief competitor
The company's main competitor is Vodaphone.
▪ somebody's closest competitor ( also somebody's nearest competitor British English ) (=somebody's main competitor)
He had five times as many votes as his nearest competitor.
▪ somebody's biggest competitor (=somebody's main competitor, especially in business)
The company's biggest competitor is in financial trouble.
▪ foreign/European/international etc competitors
America's electronics industry is keen to fight off foreign competitors.
▪ a direct competitor (=competing directly with you)
He knew she was a successful businesswoman and a direct competitor.
▪ a strong/serious competitor
In the global economy, China is emerging as a strong competitor.
▪ a fierce competitor (=very strong)
He had prepared his daughter to be a fierce competitor.
▪ a potential competitor (=a person, company etc that might compete with you)
A merger would also remove a potential competitor in the market.