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Glite Dictionary
gold medal

gold medal

114 1.1
A medal made of gold that a winner gets in competitions, often in sports
  • noun
  • /ɡoʊld ˈmɛdəl/
translation icon : medalla de oro
  • Recently, Singapore earned a total of six gold medals in the 2006 Doha Asian Games.
  • win a gold medal
  • Olympic gold medal
  • award a gold medal

I mean, he he has a gold medal in that event.

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Examples

  • Mark won the Olympic gold medal for wrestling in 1984.

  • Phelps had a fistful of gold medals by 24.

    The King of Staten Island (2020)

  • I mean, winning a gold medal is pretty fun.

  • I want to win the gold medal!

    For Your Eyes Only (1981)

  • Similar to the Olympics, members of the winning team will each receive a gold medal.

    Academic text (2012)

  • Mark won the Olympic gold medal for wrestling in 1984.

    Foxcatcher (2014)

  • For this discovery, Maria Mitchell was awarded a gold medal by the King of Denmark.

    Academic text (1992)

  • The U.S. Equestrian Team won its first gold medal this week at the Pan Am Games.

  • I want to win the gold medal!

Synonyms

award
vsgold medal
∞ 1.0

A prize given to someone for achievement or excellence

is specifically a shiny yellow metal object given as the top prize in competitions
prize
vsgold medal
892 1.0

An award given for winning a competition or achievement

is a shiny yellow metal object given as the top reward especially in sports
first prize
vsgold medal
32 1.0

The top award given to the winner in a competition

is a shiny yellow metal object given to winners often in sports

How Prestigious

gold medal
114 1.1
trophy
232 1.4
silver medal
15 1.1
bronze medal
10 2.0
ribbon
85 1.0

Surface Forms

gold medal singular
gold medals plural

Morphology

gold + medal

The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'gold' (a precious metal / gold-coloured) with 'medal' (an award), so the phrase transparently denotes a medal made of or coloured like gold and typically awarded as the top prize. This material/quality + noun composition is cross-linguistically common and therefore a B1 learner who knows both words will understand the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Gold medal comes from the simple image of a shiny gold disc or coin and a round medal given to the winner. Because gold is the most valuable metal, a gold medal came to mean the 'highest prize' or 'first place' in a contest.