▪ I. competition
(kɒmpɪˈtɪʃən)
[ad. L. competītiōn-em agreement, a judicial demand, rivalry, n. of action f. competĕre: see compete.]
1. a. ‘The action of endeavouring to gain what another endeavours to gain at the same time’ (J.); the striving of two or more for the same object; rivalry. Now largely used in connexion with competitive examinations.
| a 1608 Sir F. Vere Comm. 26 Though there were grudging there could be no competition. 1671 Milton Samson 476 God..will not long defer To vindicate the glory of his name Against all competition. 1697 Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. i. (1709) 150 Where there is so much of..Competition, and Uncertainty, you must expect Self-interest will govern. 1859 Mill Liberty iii. (1865) 43/1 Opening all objects of ambition, even the highest, to general competition. 1868 M. Pattison Academ. Org. 65 It is useless for real genius to enter the lists of competition without this training. Mod. The place will be filled by open competition..These scholarships are now thrown open to general competition. |
b. Commerce. Rivalry in the market, striving for custom between those who have the same commodities to dispose of.
| 1793 Bentham Emanc. Colonies Wks. 1843 IV. 412 From high profits in trade comes influx of traders—from influx of traders, competition among traders—from competition among traders, reduction of prices. 1832 H. Martineau Each & All iii. 39 Competition is more likely than co⁓operation to induce prudence and foresight. 1871 Ruskin Munera P. Pref. (1880) 13 Vulgar political economy asserts..that wages are determined by competition. 1884 Pall Mall G. 26 Feb. 12/1 The war of commerce which, under the name of ‘competition’, goes on unceasingly. Mod. Maxim. Competition is the life of trade. |
c. In Sc. Law applied chiefly to those contests which arise on bankruptcy, between creditors claiming in virtue of their respective securities or diligences.
d. Const. for; formerly also † to.
| 1624 Williams in Fortescue Papers 204 In the competicion for soe unworthy and meane a remote northerne Deanerye. a 1626 Bacon (J.), Competition to the crown there is none nor can be. a 1700 Dryden (J.), Now..there is no competition but for the second place. Mod. The competition for the appointment will no doubt be severe. |
e. in, into competition.
| 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. i. viii. §4 The Priest-hood, which ever hath been in some competition with Empire. a 1631 Donne in Selections (1840) 200 Bring the honours of this world into the balance, into competition, into comparison with that eternal weight of glory in heauen. 1660 R. Coke Justice Vind. Ep. Ded. 5 No man presumes to stand in competition with you. 1728 Morgan Algiers I. iii. 70 They are a very small inconsiderable Tribe, in competition with those I treat of. 1786 E. Inchbald I'll tell you what ii. ii, You wou'd not, even in idea, put him in competition with me. 1841 Myers Cath. Th. iii. §28. 104 The highest claims of the older Law are not to be put into competition with that Dispensation. |
f. Ecology. (See quots.)
| 1905 F. E. Clements Research Methods Ecol. iv. 285 Competition is a question of the reaction of a plant upon the physical factors which encompass it, and of the effect of these modified factors upon the adjacent plants. Ibid. 316 Competition, the relation between plants occupying the same area, and dependent upon the same supply of physical factors. 1916 ― Plant Succession iv. 72 Competition occurs whenever two or more plants make demands in excess of the supply... In its essential nature, competition is a decrease in the amount of water and light available for each individual. 1925 R. H. Yapp in Festschrift C. Schröter 691 The term ‘competition’..is, properly speaking, confined to those cases in the general struggle for existence in which living organisms compete or strive with one another for a limited supply of the necessaries of life—water, light, salts, insect visitors and so on. |
g. The person or persons competing with one in business, etc.; the opposition in a race or contest. Freq. with the.
| [1922 Joyce Ulysses 619 The idea..was to do good and net a profit, there being no competition to speak of.] 1961 R. A. Futterman Future of our Cities iii. 65 Fear of the competition — always a great motivating force in the American economy. 1965 Automotive Body Engineering Aug. 9 (Advt.), Get the edge on the competition by fitting Bostik flange finishers. 1972 Newsweek 10 Jan. 43/1 When Josephine the Lady Plumber was introduced to U.S. television audiences years ago, she seemed as improbable a figure as her competition Mr. Clean—and she was decidedly more comical. 1977 Custom Car Nov. 14/2 Custom Car—sponsored George Polley (306)..made the competition look like amateurs, as he soared to victory in the Southern Championship at Arlington Raceway. 1983 Times 20 Oct. 17/8 The package sets down a marker for the competition. 1986 Observer 23 Nov. 40/5 The competition cannot assure that they can sell the securities they need to raise the money. We can. |
2. (with a. and pl.) A contest for the acquisition of something; a match to determine relative excellence; a trial of ability in order to decide the superiority or comparative fitness of a number of candidates.
| 1618 Sir H. Carey in Fortescue Papers 56 Manifould desires and competitions to succeed him. 1632 Massinger Maid of Honour i. ii, Of such a competition, you alone Should wear the garland. 1781 Cowper Conversation 161 Few competitions but engender spite, And those the most, where neither has a right. Mod. For the next lot put up [to auction] there was a keen competition. When does the rifle competition come off? |
3. attrib. and Comb., as competition price, competition rent, competition scholarship, one decided by competition; competition-wallah [Urdū -wālā = L. -ārius, Eng. -er], an Anglo-Ind. colloq. term = competitioner; applied to members of the Indian Civil Service admitted on the competitive system, when first introduced in 1856.
| 1863 All Year R. X. 203 (heading) Competition Wallahs. 1864 Trevelyan (title), Letters of a Competition-wallah. Ibid. 9 The stories against the competition-wallahs, which are told and fondly believed by the Haileybury men. 1875 Maine Hist. Inst. vi. 175 Though the Irish expression translated ‘rack-rent’ cannot..denote an extreme competition rent. 1878 Sat. Rev. 15 June 750 (Y.) The Competition-Wallah, at home on leave or retirement, dins perpetually into our ears the greatness of India. 1886 Pall Mall G. 28 Oct. 6/2 In an architect's office..competition sets of plans. 1887 Ibid. 14 Oct. 2/1 Legislation on the principle of the competition-curbing Acts. |
▪ II. † compeˈtition, v. Obs. rare.
[f. the n.]
To compete.
| 1649 J. Cardell Morbus Epidem. (1650) 25 If..any thing of their own..shall providentially competition with the publique good. |