champion

UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈtʃæmpiən/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/ˈtʃæmpiən/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(cham′pē ən)


WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
cham•pi•on /ˈtʃæmpiən/USA pronunciation   n. [countable]
  1. a person or thing defeating all opponents:He was the spelling champion last year.[as a title* no article]became champion of the world.
  2. a person who fights for or defends any person or cause: became a champion of the poor.

v. [~ + object]
  1. to act as champion of (a cause);
    defend;
    support:He championed the cause of liberty.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
cham•pi•on  (cham′pē ən),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. a person who has defeated all opponents in a competition or series of competitions, so as to hold first place:the heavyweight boxing champion.
  2. anything that takes first place in competition:the champion of a cattle show.
  3. an animal that has won a certain number of points in officially recognized shows:This dog is a champion.
  4. a person who fights for or defends any person or cause:a champion of the oppressed.
  5. a fighter or warrior.

v.t. 
  1. to act as champion of;
    defend;
    support:to champion a cause.
  2. [Obs.]to defy.

adj. 
  1. first among all contestants or competitors.
  2. Informal Termsfirst-rate.
  • Latin campus field, battlefield) + -iōn- noun, nominal suffix; compare Old English cempa warrior, etc.
  • WGmc *kampiōn-, equivalent. to kamp- battle (
  • Late Latin campiōn- (stem of campiō)
  • Old French
  • Middle English 1175–1225
cham′pi•on•less, adj. 
cham′pi•on•like′, adj. 
    1. winner, victor. 4. defender, protector. 6. maintain, fight for, advocate.
    1. loser.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
champion /ˈtʃæmpɪən/ n
    • a person who has defeated all others in a competition: a chess champion
    • (as modifier): a champion team
  2. (as modifier): a champion marrow
  3. a person who defends a person or cause: champion of the underprivileged
  4. (formerly) a warrior or knight who did battle for another, esp a king or queen, to defend their rights or honour
 adj
  1. Northern English dialect first rate; excellent
 adv
  1. Northern English dialect very well; excellently
 vb (transitive)
  1. to support; defend: we champion the cause of liberty
Etymology: 13th Century: from Old French, from Late Latin campiō, from Latin campus field, battlefield
'champion' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Agostini - Alekhine - Andretti - Ashe - Beale - Becker - Botvinnik - Brabham - brief - Bristow - Bryant - Calzaghe - campion - Capablanca - Carpentier - champ - championship - Clark - Connors - Cooper - Court - Cram - Davis - Dempsey - Doohan - Drobny - Eddery - Fischer - Fittipaldi - Fitzsimmons - Fogarty - Foreman - Francis - Hailwood - Hamilton - Hendry - Hewitt - Higgins - Hill - Hunt - Johnson - Karpov - knight - Korchnoi - Lasker - Lauda - Lenglen - Liston - McCoy - ace
Collocations: UK: what a champion [idea, breakfast]!, the [American, world, Olympic] champion, the [reigning, defending, outgoing, new] champion, more...

🗣️Forum discussions with the word(s) "champion" in the title:


Look up "champion" at Merriam-Webster
Look up "champion" at dictionary.com
  • Go to Preferences page and choose from different actions for taps or mouse clicks.

In other languages: Spanish | French | Italian | Portuguese | Romanian | German | Dutch | Swedish | Russian | Polish | Czech | Greek | Turkish | Chinese | Japanese | Korean | Arabic

Advertisements
Advertisements
Report an inappropriate ad.
WordReference.com
WORD OF THE DAY
GET THE DAILY EMAIL!

Become a WordReference Supporter to view the site ad-free.