medal

plural medals

1. A stamped metal disc used as a personal ornament, a charm, or a religious object.

   Whether their images, shrines, relics, consecrated things, holy water, medals, benedictions, those divine amulets, holy exorcisms, and the sign of the cross, be available in this disease?

   1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 2, section 1, member 3

2. A stamped or cast metal object (usually a disc), particularly one awarded as a prize or reward.
3. obsoleteA Roman coin worth half a denarius.

present singular third person medals · US participle present medaling · UK participle present medalling · US participle past medaled · US past medaled · UK participle past medalled · UK past medalled

1. colloquialintransitivehobbiesTo win a medal.

   He medalled twice at the Olympics.

   5 more examples

   I dashed into the mall; bought a gift; raced to the card store, snapped up a two-fer gift-bag special and was back in my car in 26 minutes. I could medal in power shopping.

   2004 October 29, Carol McAlice Currie, “Unposted laws make downtown seem unwelcoming”, in Statesman Journal, volume 152, number 214, Salem, OR, page 1C

   Vocab-wise, medalling and PB-ing are now totally part-and-parcelled, and most experts in South Korea believe podiumed, finalled and all-comered are not far off lexiconing.

   2011 January 9, Harry Pearson, “London 2012 can legacy by verbing the noun”, in The Guardian

   I wanted to medal. I was pregnant and I wanted to medal.

   2013 January 13, “Je Ne Sais What?”, in The Good Wife, season 4, episode 12, spoken by Anna (Elizabeth Alderfer)

   In 2008, after being passed over yet again for USA Basketball’s Beijing Olympics team, San Antonio Stars all-star Becky Hammon signed a four-year, $2m contract with CSKA Moscow that included a six-figure bonus for becoming a naturalised citizen and medaling at the Games.

   2022 September 3, Andrew Lawrence, “Brittney Griner’s Russian ordeal is a byproduct of WNBA’s shoestring funding”, in The Guardian

   Rebecca Romero medaled in rowing and track cycling in 2004 and 2008, joining East German swimmer-turned-handball player Roswitha Krause and several swimmers/divers as two-sport medalists.

   2024 July 30, Beau Dure, “What’s tougher than competing in an Olympic sport? Competing in two”, in The Guardian

2. transitiveTo award a medal to.

plural Medals

1. A surname from Spanish [in turn from Galician].