Word of the day--Also-ran

also-ran \AWL-soh-ran\,

noun:

• Informal. A person who loses a contest, election, or other competition.
• Sports.
  • (In a race) a contestant who fails to win or to place among the first three finishers.
  • An athlete or team whose performance in competition is rarely, if ever, a winning or near-winning one.
• Informal. A person who attains little or no success: For every great artist there are a thousand also-rans.

 

Also-ran was first used in the late 1800s to refer to the losing horse in a horse race. The term was applied more broadly to the loser of any contest shortly thereafter.

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