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also-ran

 - 3 dictionary results

al⋅so-ran

  [awl-soh-ran]
Use also-ran in a Sentence
–noun
1. Sports.
a. (in a race) a contestant who fails to win or to place among the first three finishers.
b. an athlete or team whose performance in competition is rarely, if ever, a winning or near-winning one.
2. Informal. a person who loses a contest, election, or other competition.
3. Informal. a person who attains little or no success: For every great artist there are a thousand also-rans.
Origin:
1895–1900
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To also-ran
al·so-ran   (ôl'sō-rān')
n.  

  1. A horse that does not win, place, or show in a race.

  2. A loser in a competition, as in an election: "had enough support to place him in the middle of the also-rans" (George F. Will).

  3. One that has little talent or success: just an also-ran in the art world.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Idioms & Phrases

also-ran

Loser, failure, unsuccessful individual, as in Jane feared that her candidate, a terrible speaker, would end up as an also-ran, or As for getting promotions, Mark counted himself among the also-rans. This term comes from racing, where it describes a horse that finishes in fourth place or lower or does not finish a race at all. It first appeared in the 1890s in published racing results, and has since been transferred to losers in any kind of competition, and also more broadly to persons who simply don't do well.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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