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# rival

«rival» in Mova's school dictionary: **A person, team or business that competes with another for…** — 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

noun (a rival, rivals); verb (rival, rivals, rivalled/rivaled, rivalling/rivaling); adjective (rival teams)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A person, team or business that competes with another for the same thing: The two schools are old rivals. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rival/#m1)

2) (verb) To be as good as someone or something: Her cake rivals any shop's cake. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rival/#m2)

3) (adjective) Competing: rival gangs, rival shops. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rival/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In sport and stories rivals compete for a prize, a trophy or friendship. In business maths, rival shops offer different prices to compare. In science, animals are rivals for food and mates. Phrases: «arch-rival», «rival team», «without rival», «rival someone in something».

### examples

- The two football teams are fierce rivals. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rival/#x1)
- Our rival shop sells apples 5p cheaper. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rival/#x2)
- Nothing can rival Grandma's apple pie. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rival/#x3)
- The rival team scored 3 goals; we scored 4. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rival/#x4)
- She beat her rival in the final race. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rival/#x5)
- Batman's arch-rival is the Joker. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rival/#x6)
- Male deer fight their rivals in autumn. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rival/#x7)
- All the King’s unsuccessful rivals had gone home in despair. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rival/#x8)

### note

Countable: rivals. Past tense: rivalled (UK, Australia), rivaled (US). Noun: rivalry. A rival is an opponent, not necessarily an enemy.

### In the corpora

- [Mandrills have very long canine teeth, and a wide yawn shows them off as a warning to rivals.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/126-the-lion-king-hyenas-rafiki-and-zazu/12/)
- [Male ring-tailed lemurs have stink fights, wiping scent onto their tails and waving them at rivals.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/163-madagascar-lemurs-of-every-kind-and-the-fossa/5/)
- [Rivals in a game can become friends; shake hands whoever wins.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/467-friends-through-games-and-clubs/33/)
- [Losing with good grace and learning from it helps you get better, and rivals can push you to improve.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/469-the-copier-and-the-one-who-competes-at-everything/37/)
- [Being polite to a rival who wins, saying «well done», is a sign of strength, not weakness.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/471-the-kid-who-has-it-in-for-you/32/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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