compete

verb

com·pete | \ kəm-ˈpēt

competed; competing

Definition of compete

: to strive consciously or unconsciously for an objective (such as position, profit, or a prize) : be in a state of rivalry competing teams companies competing for customers

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Examples of compete in a Sentence

Thousands of applicants are competing for the same job. She competed against students from around the country. We are competing with companies that are twice our size. Did you compete in the track meet on Saturday? The radio and the television were both on, competing for our attention.

Recent Examples on the Web

Swan reiterated that Intel has decided to discontinue plans to compete in the smartphone 5G modem market. — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "Intel commits to shipping 7nm chips by 2021, an aggressive change of pace," 8 May 2019 Basically, Kate and William plan to compete in a sailing race this summer, which is more than a little exciting. — Amy Mackelden, Harper's BAZAAR, "Kate Middleton Wears Nautical Stripes As She Launches King's Cup Sailing Regatta with Prince William," 7 May 2019 This year’s bonspiel has the theme Cartoon Craze, and several teams are competing in costumes of cartoon characters. — Danny Martin, The Seattle Times, "Ohio curlers at home in International Bonspiel," 13 Apr. 2019 Tune in on April 15 at 8 p.m. EST to watch each contestant compete in the Live Cross Battles, with eight pairs of 16 singers performing on the first night. — Kelly O'sullivan, Country Living, "What Are the Cross Battles on 'The Voice?'," 10 Apr. 2019 Women must run below a 2:29:30 or finish high enough in certain big-name competitions to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games. — Jenny Mccoy, SELF, "How Sarah Sellers Went From Surprise Podium Finisher at the Boston Marathon to Pro Athlete," 8 Apr. 2019 Many of the breakthroughs of recent years — AI systems that learned how to play Atari games, generate fake photos of celebrities, fold proteins, and compete in massive multiplayer online strategy games — have happened because that’s no longer true. — Kelsey Piper, Vox, "The case for taking AI seriously as a threat to humanity," 21 Dec. 2018 Equipmake's customer saw their dreams of competing in Formula E's inaugural season fly out the window. — Matthew Jancer, Popular Mechanics, "Speaking of Spokes: The Design That Could Change How Electric Car Motors Are Made," 20 Nov. 2018 Jes Staley runs one of the last full-service banks left in Europe that compete with Wall Street. — Margot Patrick, WSJ, "‘He Should Go Back to Connecticut.’ Barclays CEO Battles Activist Over Bank’s Future.," 1 May 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'compete.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near compete

Statistics for compete

Last Updated

21 May 2019

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Time Traveler for compete

The first known use of compete was in 1620

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More Definitions for compete

compete

verb

English Language Learners Definition of compete

: to try to get or win something (such as a prize or reward) that someone else is also trying to win : to try to be better or more successful than someone or something else

: to try to be noticed, accepted, or chosen over something else

See the full definition for compete in the English Language Learners Dictionary

compete

verb

com·pete | \ kəm-ˈpēt

competed; competing