competition

Borrowed from French compétition, from Late Latin competītiō, competītiōnem, from Latin competō, from con- + petō.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌkɒmpəˈtɪʃən/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌkɑːmpəˈtɪʃən/

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competition (countable and uncountable, plural competitions)

1. (uncountable) The action of competing.

   The competition for this job is strong.

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; […] . Our table in the dining-room became again the abode of scintillating wit and caustic repartee, Farrar bracing up to his old standard, and the demand for seats in the vicinity rose to an animated competition.

2. (countable) A contest for a prize or award.

   The newspaper is featuring a competition to win a car.

3. (uncountable, collectively) The competitors in such a contest.

   The new stain remover was ten times more effective than the competition.

   • 2013 February 6, Hideo Otake, “Revising the Interpretation of the Japanese Economy”, in Michio Muramatsu, Frieder Naschold, editors, State and Administration in Japan and Germany: A Comparative Perspective on Continuity and Change‎, page 319:

     Japanese retail stores have strove to, and have succeeded in, fulfilling these severe demands, and in doing so, have constantly had to innovate both technologically and institutionally in order to keep up with the competition.

• (antonym(s) of “action of competing”): cooperation

• competitive
• compete
• competent