1. (noun)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"
2. (verb)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"
3. (verb)rival be the rival of, be in competition with "we are rivaling for first place in the race"