friendly competition
7
2.8
- noun
- /ˈfrɛndli ˌkɒmpəˈtɪʃən/
:
competencia amistosa
- The annual sports day encouraged a spirit of friendly competition among all the students.
- enjoy friendly competition
- spirit of friendly competition
- handle the friendly competition
Yeah, but the the hopefully it's friendly competition and some collaboration.
- Yeah, but the the hopefully it's friendly competition and some collaboration.
- But yeah, so we're having a friendly competition, kind of.
- That's great, but friendly competition versus like, I personally hate lawsuits.
Examples
-
There was friendly competition between teams trying to find the most surprising artifacts.
Academic text (2004) -
The friendly competition between schools has generated a lot of enthusiasm, said Scott Hurbough, Allison's principal at Bedford Junior High.
Blog text (34) -
Oh, it is just a friendly competition.
-
And believe me, there is nothing like friendly competition to get you writing.
Blog text (28) -
I have a friendly competition with a buddy to see who can earn the most money.
Blog text (33) -
Elementary students enjoy a small amount of friendly competition, especially if everyone gets some kind of token prize.
Academic text (1996) -
The project goal is to collect 100,000 books, and companies and organizations throughout Lake County are in friendly competition to collect the most books.
Blog text (16) -
Some camaraderie was created through friendly competition among the campers.
Academic text (2006) -
An element of friendly competition among such musical peers stimulates many advanced student musicians.
Academic text (2004) -
My students love the friendly competition, and every Friday they all look forward to a new and exciting Fluency Idol!
Academic text (2013)
Synonyms
517
1.4
A game in which two teams or players compete
396
2.3
An event where people or teams compete to win
How Friendly
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a contest conducted in a spirit of goodwill' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'friendly' (showing kindness) with 'competition' (an event where individuals or teams compete). This adjectival modification is a straightforward compositional pattern common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Friendly competition comes from the simple picture of people taking part in a game or contest who smile, clap, and stay friends afterward, with friendly meaning being kind and competition meaning a contest. That's why Friendly competition means 'a contest without hostility'.