I. ri ‧ val 1 W3 /ˈraɪv ə l/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: rivalis 'someone who uses the same stream as another, rival in love' , from rivus 'stream' ]
1 . a person, group, or organization that you compete with in sport, business, a fight etc SYN competitor :
This gives the company a competitive advantage over its rivals.
rival for
his chief rival for the job
He finished 39 seconds ahead of his main rival.
She was 2 minutes faster than her nearest rival.
a game against their old rivals, Manchester United
They still remain bitter rivals (=hate each other) .
Their sales have now overtaken those of their arch-rival (=main or strongest rival) .
rival company/firm/team etc
Sheena left her job and went to work for a rival company.
2 . one of a group of things that people can choose between:
The newest model has several advantages over its rivals.
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COLLOCATIONS
■ adjectives
▪ somebody's main/chief rival
Who is the champion's main rival?
▪ somebody's nearest/closest rival (=the one that is closest to beating them)
She finished 7.1 seconds ahead of her nearest rival.
▪ a great rival (=an important rival for a long time)
Oxford and Cambridge University have always been great rivals
▪ somebody's arch-rival (=their main or strongest rival)
McDonald's and its arch-rival Burger King
▪ a serious rival
He knows that he has no serious rival for the job.
▪ an old rival
Hindhead had a convincing victory over their old rivals, Frensham.
▪ a potential rival (=one who is likely to be a rival in the future)
Their business is a potential rival for ours.
▪ a bitter rival (=one that hates you)
They have long been bitter rivals.
▪ a political rival
At the time, France and Britain were major political rivals.
▪ a presidential rival
His presidential rivals have vigorously attacked him.
■ rival + NOUN
▪ rival factions/groups
My task is to unite the rival factions within the party.
▪ a rival team
The rival team's fans were in the other part of the ground.
▪ a rival gang
The street is a war zone between two rival gangs.
▪ rival fans/supporters
There were fights between rival fans after the match.
▪ a rival company/firm
It may have to merge with a rival company to stay in business.
II. rival 2 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle rivalled , present participle rivalling British English , rivaled , rivaling American English )
[transitive] to be as good or important as someone or something else ⇨ unrivalled :
The college’s facilities rival those of Harvard and Yale.
a stadium to rival any in the world