competes

verb

present tense third-person singular of compete
as in contends
to engage in a contest prizefighters competing for the world heavyweight championship

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of competes Amongst the crowd was Lee Brockhouse, 48, who also competes in amateur strongman events with a personal best of 455kg in the deadlift. — Rob Tanner, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026 The 2026 Honda Pilot competes against rivals like the Toyota Grand Highlander and Kia Telluride. — Charles Singh, USA Today, 1 Sep. 2026 Their case counts wide-release theatrical movies and the basic cable bundle, and leaves out streaming, YouTube, sports rights, and everything else that now competes for the same hours of your evening. — Shubha Ghosh, Fortune, 31 Aug. 2026 The club's professional team competes in Argentina's top division and generates revenue from ticket sales and broadcasting rights. — Manuel Rueda, NPR, 30 Aug. 2026 Tariffs could also hurt companies like Apple, which competes with foreign rivals overseas that wouldn’t have to deal with the tariffs. — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 27 Aug. 2026 Open shelves can also feel cluttered because everything competes for attention. — Olivia McIntosh, Martha Stewart, 27 Aug. 2026 Champion dreams Grant and Connor, 19, who is entering his sophomore year studying civil engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and competes for his college team, are known for distance swimming. — Susan Young, PEOPLE, 26 Aug. 2026 Heavy federal borrowing competes with families and businesses for capital, pushing up the cost of mortgages, car loans and financing. — Carolyn Bourdeaux, Chicago Tribune, 23 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for competes
  1. contends
  2. races
  3. fights
Verb
  • Attorney Barry Pollack contends that Maduro remained Venezuela’s head of state regardless of whether the United States considered his presidency legitimate.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Beyond senior leadership changes, Jung contends that Phillips should position itself as a cultural club rather than just a salesroom to keep momentum and not to always rely on internal star players.
    — Hikmat Mohammed, ARTnews.com, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of contends
Verb
  • In its breathless finale, Curry races through the mansion reconstructing every murder, flinging himself through doors and corridors while maintaining the verbal precision of a stage actor performing at double speed.
    — Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Finn Gomez / Getty Images Kirkwood, who races for Andretti Global, started second but took the lead on the opening lap with a daring maneuver around the outside of pole-sitter and championship leader Alex Palou in front of the National Archives.
    — Kayla Hayempour, NBC news, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of races
Verb
  • The merch quickly gained traction on social media as the 38-year-old congresswoman fights to hold her battleground seat for a third term.
    — Lauren Green, The Washington Examiner, 8 Sep. 2026
  • This face serum brightens and evens skin tone, fights free radicals, supports collagen production and softens the look of fine lines and wrinkles for glowing, healthy-looking skin.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of fights

Browse Nearby Words

competently
competes
competing
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Competes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/competes. Accessed 14 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of empirical

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
funny guinea pig in glasses reading a book
Challenging Words You Should Know Vol 2 Words to the wise
See All