champion
part of speech
noun (a champion, champions); verb (champion, champions, championed, championing); adjective (champion, UK informal); noun: championship
meaning for a pupil
1) A champion is a person or team that has won a competition, especially the most important one: «the world champion». tree →
2) A champion of something is a person who fights for it or speaks up for it: «a champion of children's rights». tree →
3) To champion something means to support it and argue for it strongly. tree →
4) (UK, informal, old-fashioned) «Champion!» means excellent, great. tree →
5) In old tales, a champion is a brave fighter chosen to fight for a king or another person. tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: In the story of David, it is a warrior who steps out to fight for his side in single combat, like Goliath. Interpretation: Tradition reads David's defeat of Goliath as the triumph of faith in God over brute strength. It teaches that God can save by few as well as by many. In the primary lessons: In sport and PE, «champions» win leagues, cups and sports days; a «championship» is a competition for the title. In history and stories, a champion was a knight who fought on behalf of someone else. In PSHE and the news, people champion causes like recycling or kindness. Phrases: «world champion», «reigning champion», «defending champion», «Olympic champion», «a champion of…».
examples
- And there went out a champion from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. (Prophets 1SA.17.4, JPS 1917) tree →
- And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke according to the same words; and David heard them. (Prophets 1SA.17.23, JPS 1917) tree →
- And there was again war at Gath, where was a champion, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant. (Prophets 2SA.21.20, JPS 1917) tree →
- Our class were the sports day champions! tree →
- She is the world champion at chess. tree →
- The defending champions lost in the first round. tree →
- Martin Luther King was a champion of equal rights. tree →
- Our head teacher champions reading for pleasure. tree →
- The knight fought as the queen's champion. tree →
- «How was the match?» «Champion!» (UK, informal, Northern) tree →
- Liverpool became champions of the league. tree →
note
Plural «champions». Short informal form: «champ». «Championship» is the competition; «champion» is the winner. Trap: «the reigning champion» is the current one; «a former champion» won before.
In the corpora
- It was reported that an AI beat a world champion at the board game Go, after learning by playing enormous numbers of games.
- Then he imagined playing football against the Reception class, scoring forty goals, and walking off feeling like a champion.
- Theo's mum has been the family champion at a board game for six years.
- «Champion, son» (in the North of England «champion» means excellent).
- Check facts before using them: Messi has scored headers, including one in the 2009 Champions League final.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «champion» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.