prize

prize¹ W2S2 [praız] n

[Date: 1500-1600; Origin: prise, an earlier form of price; PRICE¹]

1.) something that is given to someone who is successful in a competition, race, game of chance etc

▪ In this month's competition you could win a prize worth £3000.

▪ The first prize has gone to Dr John Gentle.

prize for

▪ The prize for best photography has been won by a young Dutch photographer.

▪ Scientists from Oxford shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1945.

▪ The prizes are awarded (=given) every year to students who have shown original thinking in their work.

2.) something that is very valuable to you or that it is very important to have

▪ Fame was the prize.

3.) no prizes for guessing sth

spoken used to say that it is very easy to guess something

▪ No prizes for guessing what she was wearing.

prize ²

prize² adj [only before noun]

1.) good enough to win a prize or having won a prize

▪ He has spent months cultivating what he hopes are prize flowers.

→↑prize-winning

2.) very good or important

▪ The Picasso painting is a prize exhibit in the museum.

3.) prize money

money that is given to the person who wins a competition, race etc

4.) a prize idiot/fool informal

a complete idiot, fool etc

prize ³

prize³ v [T]

1.) to think that someone or something is very important or valuable

▪ He is someone who prizes truth and decency above all things.

▪ The company's shoes are highly prized by fashion conscious youngsters.

2.) the American spelling of ↑prise