second-place finish
4
2.2
- noun
:
segundo lugar
- In the annual marathon, Sarah achieved a second-place finish, marking her personal best time.
- second-place finish last year
- two second-place finishes
- career-best second-place finish
Examples
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One major win, two second-place finishes, and seven top 10s.
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Jamie Clark has guided the men's soccer team to two consecutive second-place finishes in the Pac-12 after being named coach of a team that finished 5-5-0 in the Pac-10 in 2010 and 2-3-5 in the conference in 2009.
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A second place finish from Mr. Nervous Guy.
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He'll be remembered for that one second place finish he had at The Masters.
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His highlight was his second-place finish in June at Pocono.
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He followed it up with a second-place finish at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston this past January.
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He won a state championship in basketball, earned five individual state championships in track, and helped the Pirates to a second-place finish in 2011 in football.
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The big story at the Miami Grand Prix is the surprising second-place finish of unknown rookie, Jimmy Bly.
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Nico Rosberg converted second place on the grid into a second-place finish this afternoon at the 70th Monaco Grand Prix.
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Gibbons served as the Blue Jays manager from 2004-08, leading the team to an even 305 wins and 305 losses, including a second-place finish in the AL.
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Synonyms
1
3.5
Coming second in a competition or race
Antonyms
How Prestigious
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3.1
4
2.2
3
2.9
- US
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3.8
229
2.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
second-place + finish
The phrase is transparently compositional: 'second-place' signals the rank/position (second) and 'finish' denotes the result or end of a race/competition, so the combined meaning 'a result where someone finishes second' follows directly from the parts. This is a common, literal compound pattern found across languages and uses high-frequency, predictable words, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents should understand it.
Etymology
Second-place finish comes from sports and races, where the person who comes in second place stands on the middle step of the winners' podium and often gets a silver medal. This clear image of being just behind the winner is why the phrase means 'a result of coming second in a competition'.