1
- a person or thing competing with another for the same objective or for superiority in the same field of activity竞争对手, 敌手：
he has no serious rival for the job
对于这份工作他没有强劲的竞争对手
as modifier gun battles between rival gangs.敌对帮派间的枪战。
1.1
- with negative a person or thing that equals another in quality可与…匹敌的人（或物）, 可与之相比的人（或物）：
she has no rivals as a female rock singer.
她作为摇滚乐女歌手, 没人可以与她匹敌。
(rivalled, rivalling; <美> rivaled, rivaling) with obj.
- compete for superiority with; be or seem to be equal or comparable to与…竞争; 努力赶上（或超过）; 与…匹敌, 比得上：
the efficiency of the Bavarians rivals that of the Viennese.
巴伐利亚人的效率比得上维也纳人。
词源
late 16th cent.: from Latin rivalis, originally in the sense 'person using the same stream as another', from rivus 'stream'.