as in rivalry
an earnest effort for superiority or victory over another
a duel for the title of captain of the team
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Recent Examples of duel
Beren Cross, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2026
This should also be a great quarterback duel between Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza and redshirt junior Ty Simpson.
—Rohan Nadkarni, NBC news, 31 Dec. 2025
Lauren Peller, ABC News, 17 Dec. 2025
The dueling Senate votes are the latest political messaging exercise in a Congress that has operated almost entirely on partisan terms, as Republicans pushed through a massive tax and spending cuts bill this summer using budget maneuvers that eliminated the need for Democratic votes.
—Dan Gooding, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for duel
Noun
Much in the same way Sunday’s stellar finish against Manchester United was overshadowed by the visitors’ swift response, his killer goals in Newcastle may be forgotten in the chaotic memories of this duel.
—Verb
The Senate already rejected a clean three-year extension of the subsidies in a pair of dueling health care votes last week, though several Republican senators crossed the aisle to join all Democrats in supporting it.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for duel
Noun
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After sending the cheeseheads packing with the biggest playoff comeback in franchise history, Ben Johnson spiced up the rivalry with some salty language.—
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As interbranch rivalry morphed into systemic partisan competition, a judiciary dominated by Republican appointees began consolidating its authority at Congress’s expense.—
Verb
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The reinforcement needed to combat wind loads simply made the price tag too high for most developers.—
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In September, Spotify announced new measures to combat spam and the impersonation of real artists, but frequent incidents like King Gizzard’s illustrate that the company is struggling to moderate against the influx of AI chum.—
Noun
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This was not a rare occurrence at the university, where the presence of many students depended on the outcome of factional battles in their countries of origin.—
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In fact, filming the entire episode was quite the experience as the actress spent a lot of time arguing with herself as Maddie and Sara engaged in a battle of wills for control over the call center.—
Verb
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Fifty years ago, my father was a Vietnamese soldier who fought as an ally to the United States Armed Forces in Vietnam.—
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Dickens’ appearance was during an ongoing back and forth fight between the city and MARTA over transit expansion in Atlanta.—
Noun
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His struggles are hurting the Broncos in the biggest moments, too.—
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After all, there are signs that the economy is improving (unemployment and inflation are declining), but after the economic struggles of recent years, and with household debt still high, an additional financing source won't hurt, either.—
Verb
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The candidacy challenge contends that Wilcox used the wrong form to file for office in December and left off information that was required.—
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But the coalition of environmental groups contends the PSC cleared Georgia Power’s expansion without the data to show all of the new power plants are needed, at least for now.—
Noun
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The federal determination highlights how permitting males to compete on female teams displaces female athletes from podiums, denies them advancement opportunities, and diminishes their visibility and recognition in competitions.—
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This has created a growing, glowing, billion-dollar segment of the beauty market and fierce competition among purveyors of this radiant technology.—
Noun
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Frey said an incident Friday night that led to property damage at an area hotel and confrontation with police officers was an outlier to the largely peaceful events in recent days.—
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Ross argued that allowing local police to provide basic crowd control — rather than restricting coordination — could have reduced risks during recent confrontations.—
Cite this Entry
“Duel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/duel. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.
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