Intermediate — Set 37

Set 37 of Intermediate covers 5 words: rival, train, contest, beat, compete. Each entry below includes its definition, an example sentence, and synonyms — practice them with the interactive cards above.

1. rival · noun/ˈraɪv(ə)l/

   a person or a team that competes with another

   Coach Duncan said he hopes the team will beat some of its league rivals and continue to improve throughout the season.

   Synonyms: opponent, competitor

   Origin: late 16th century: from Latin rivalis, originally in the sense ‘person using the same stream as another’, from rivus ‘stream’

2. train · verb/treɪn/

   to exercise or practice in preparation for a sport or event

   Rick did not train hard for the match, clearly believing that he could win the game very easily.

   Synonyms: exercise, practice, work out

   Origin: late Middle English: from Old French train (masculine), traine (feminine), from trahiner (verb), from Latin trahere ‘pull, draw’. Early noun senses were ‘trailing part of a robe’ and ‘retinue’; the latter gave rise to ‘line of traveling people or vehicles’, later ‘a connected series of things’. The early verb sense ‘cause a plant to grow in a desired shape’ was the basis of the sense ‘instruct’

3. contest · noun/ˈkɑnˌtɛst/

   an occasion on which a winner is selected from among two or more participants

   Please note that all participants must be 18 and over to participate in the contest.

   Synonyms: competition, match, tournament

   Origin: late 16th century (as a verb in the sense ‘swear to, attest’): from Latin contestari ‘call upon to witness, initiate (by calling witnesses)’, from con- ‘together’ + testare ‘to witness’. The senses ‘wrangle, struggle for’ arose in the early 17th century, whence the current noun and verb senses

4. beat · verb/bit/

   to defeat someone in a game, race, or competition

   Our team had never been beaten at home before that match.

   Synonyms: defeat, conquer, win against

   Origin: Old English bēatan, of Germanic origin

5. compete · verb/kəmˈpit/

   take part in a contest and try to win against others

   Ryan has been kickboxing since the age of six and regularly competes in events at national level.

   Synonyms: participate, take part, try to win

   Origin: early 17th century: from Latin competere, in its late sense ‘strive or contend for (something)’, from com- ‘together’ + petere ‘aim at, seek’