rival, challenger, competitor, competition, contender -- (the contestant you hope to defeat; "he had respect for his rivals"; "he wanted to know what the competition was doing")
Overview of verb rival
The verb rival has 2 senses
equal, touch, rival, match -- (be equal to in quality or ability; "Nothing can rival cotton for durability"; "Your performance doesn't even touch that of your colleagues"; "Her persistence and ambition only matches that of her parents")
rival -- (be the rival of, be in competition with; "we are rivaling for first place in the race")
(Sound)
