as in competitors
one who strives for the same thing as another
the third-party challenger in the presidential election
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Recent Examples of challengers
That could give a candidate with a strong base of support a better chance of beating challengers.
—
Mary Ramsey
october 3, Charlotte Observer, 3 Oct. 2025
Two-time incumbent David Miller defended his seat on the CalPERS Board of Administration from two challengers, Santa Monica fire Captain Dominick Bei and former Pasadena city manager Steve Mermell, according to CalPERS election results released Thursday.
—William Melhado, Sacbee.com, 2 Oct. 2025
Season 42 continues on Friday with TJ Fisher returning as champion to face two new challengers.
—Usa Today Staff, USA Today, 2 Oct. 2025
Outside of their own walls, the state of the East could give rise to a few different challengers — Atlanta?
—Joe Vardon, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
After one week of voting, bears competed against each other until only two challengers remained – numbers 856 and 32.
—Lilit Marcus, CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2025
However, Trump has been vocal that candidates should drop out to limit the number of challengers against Mamdani.
—Oren Oppenheim, ABC News, 28 Sep. 2025
Justices question challengers' injunction request The challengers to the disclosure law include Center for Arizona Policy, a Christian conservative advocacy organization; Arizona Free Enterprise Club, a libertarian non-profit, and two anonymous individuals.
—Taylor Seely, AZCentral.com, 27 Sep. 2025
The Vikings play one of their top challengers next week, Sunny Hills, at Westminster High.
—Steve Fryer, Oc Register, 26 Sep. 2025
Mary Ramsey
october 3, Charlotte Observer, 3 Oct. 2025
Two-time incumbent David Miller defended his seat on the CalPERS Board of Administration from two challengers, Santa Monica fire Captain Dominick Bei and former Pasadena city manager Steve Mermell, according to CalPERS election results released Thursday.
—William Melhado, Sacbee.com, 2 Oct. 2025
Season 42 continues on Friday with TJ Fisher returning as champion to face two new challengers.
—Usa Today Staff, USA Today, 2 Oct. 2025
Outside of their own walls, the state of the East could give rise to a few different challengers — Atlanta?
—Joe Vardon, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
After one week of voting, bears competed against each other until only two challengers remained – numbers 856 and 32.
—Lilit Marcus, CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2025
However, Trump has been vocal that candidates should drop out to limit the number of challengers against Mamdani.
—Oren Oppenheim, ABC News, 28 Sep. 2025
Justices question challengers' injunction request The challengers to the disclosure law include Center for Arizona Policy, a Christian conservative advocacy organization; Arizona Free Enterprise Club, a libertarian non-profit, and two anonymous individuals.
—Taylor Seely, AZCentral.com, 27 Sep. 2025
The Vikings play one of their top challengers next week, Sunny Hills, at Westminster High.
—Steve Fryer, Oc Register, 26 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for challengers
Noun
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Later, telecom companies were required to let competitors interconnect rather than wall off their networks.—
Asad Ramzanali,
Time,
6 Oct. 2025
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Though Stellantis ended its losing skid, the company turned in poorer sales numbers than its Detroit Three competitors, GM and Ford, which both reported gains.—
Liam Rappleye,
USA Today,
6 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Other contests to watch involve potential conference contenders with Virginia and Louisville meeting for the chance to reach five wins and remain unbeaten in the ACC.—
Jordan Mendoza,
USA Today,
3 Oct. 2025
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Tennessee and Miami had similar turnover before finding Josh Heupel (who led the Volunteers to the College Football Playoff) and Cristobal (whose Hurricanes are contenders this fall).—
Matt Baker,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
Noun
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As always, Variety spoke with creator and Kinetic Content founder and CEO Chris Coelen about the first six episodes, including that split, the multiple contestants who ghosted, and the serious conversations that happened in the pods.—
Emily Longeretta,
Variety,
4 Oct. 2025
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Age is experience at Miss Universe In 2023 the Miss Universe pageant changed its rules to broaden the range of contestants, allowing new queens to be mothers and removing strict age limits.—
Sarah Moreno,
Miami Herald,
3 Oct. 2025
Noun
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On the one hand, Madrid sit two points clear of Barcelona at the top of La Liga after a dip in form from their Catalan rivals and have won nine of their 10 games in all competitions.—
Mario Cortegana,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
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OpenAI’s aggressive expansion could be critical to keep up with rivals like Meta, Microsoft and Google that have spent decades building their digital ecosystems, said Daniel Keum, an associate professor at Columbia Business School.—
Lisa Eadicicco,
CNN Money,
7 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Challengers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/challengers. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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