[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/compete.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / compete

[← C](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/C/)

# compete

«compete» in Mova's school dictionary: **to try to win against others in a race, game or contest** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (compete, competes, competed, competing)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To compete means to try to win against others in a race, game or contest. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/compete/#m1)

2) To compete means to try to be more successful than others, for example shops competing for customers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/compete/#m2)

3) In nature, living things compete for food, water, light and space. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/compete/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In sports and school, pupils compete in races, quizzes, spelling bees and sports day. In science lessons on habitats, animals and plants compete for resources. Phrases: compete in, compete against, compete for, compete with.

### examples

- Ten runners will compete in the race. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/compete/#x1)
- Our school competes against other schools in football. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/compete/#x2)
- Plants compete for sunlight. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/compete/#x3)
- Shops compete for customers by lowering prices. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/compete/#x4)
- She competed in the spelling bee. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/compete/#x5)
- It's more fun to compete fairly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/compete/#x6)
- Birds compete for the best nesting places. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/compete/#x7)
- This was reported to the man who declared he would compete, ‘but,’ he said, ‘I shall let my servant run for me.’ [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/compete/#x8)

### note

Regular verb: competed (drop e, add -ed), competing. Noun: competition; person: competitor; adjective: competitive. Compete in an event, against or with a person, for a prize.

### In the corpora

- [A job interview is a meeting where an employer asks questions to decide whom to hire; several people usually compete for one job.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/3-finding-a-job-and-getting-on/8/)
- [Not only European countries take part in Eurovision: Australia has competed since 2015, and Israel takes part too.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/6-charts-number-ones-and-famous-musicians-as-public-record/11/)
- [LEGO Masters is a real TV show where adult teams compete at building, and some adults design sets as their job.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/32-lego-builds-instructions-vs-your-own-ideas/15/)
- [Competing is fine, but hurting a teammate to win is never fine.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/469-the-copier-and-the-one-who-competes-at-everything/33/)
- [A rival is someone you compete against, not someone you hate.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/472-rival-teams-and-the-older-bully/3/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «compete» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/compete/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.