To compete is to try to win or be more successful than others in an activity, contest, or situation. It can involve sports, business, school, or any area where people want the same goal.
From Latin *competere* “to strive together, be suitable,” from *com-* “together” + *petere* “to seek.” It originally meant “to seek together,” not necessarily with hostility.
Competition is literally ‘seeking together’—you and others chasing the same goal side by side. That’s why the best competitors often push each other to improve instead of just trying to destroy each other.
Competition has often been framed as a masculine trait, with women discouraged from open competition or penalized socially for being 'too competitive.' In sports and business, women have faced structural barriers to competing on equal terms.
Use 'compete' without coding competitiveness as inherently masculine or inappropriate for women; describe conditions of fair competition explicitly.
Women have competed and excelled in sports, business, and academics despite structural discrimination and stereotypes about their competitiveness.
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