medal
Americannoun
-
a flat piece of metal, often a disk but sometimes a cross, star, or other form, usually bearing an inscription or design, issued to commemorate a person, action, or event, or given as a reward for bravery, merit, or the like.
a gold medal for the best swimmer.
-
a similar object bearing a religious image, as of a saint.
a Saint Christopher's medal.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
-
(tr) to honour with a medal
-
informal (intr) (in sport) to win a medal
Other Word Forms
- medallic adjective
- unmedaled adjective
- unmedalled adjective
Etymology
Origin of medal
1580–90; earlier medaille < Middle French < Italian medaglia copper coin worth a halfpenny < Vulgar Latin *medalia, variant (by dissimilation) of Late Latin mediālia, noun use of neuter plural (taken as feminine singular) of mediālis medial
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Olympic volleyball team that won the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics.
From Los Angeles Times
By giving his best to the end, he made the American side as good as it needed to be to beat the Soviets in the medal round and Finland for the gold.
When gymnast Jordan Chiles was stripped of her bronze medal by the International Olympic Committee, Flav gifted her a bronze, oversized clock necklace as a replacement.
From Los Angeles Times
Yet, in one of the more extraordinary fixtures in recent sporting memory, the United States upset mighty Canada in Italy on Sunday to capture the Olympic gold medal in men’s ice hockey.
From Los Angeles Times
If they gave out medals in financial trash talking, Warren Buffett would be on the podium.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
