come off second best en · VERB
Meanings
-
To be defeated in competition; be on the losing side.
He was elected to the chair of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy in 1827 at the newly-founded London University, and became prominent in railway controversies in the 'thirties, when he came off second best in a dispute with Daniel Gooch about the effects of speed on the human frame.
1950 March, Michael Robbins, “Dr. Lardner's "Railway Economy"”, in Railway Magazine, page 153:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| came off second best | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| coming off second best | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| comes off second best | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| come off second best | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic |
Relateds
Translations (1)
de zweiter Sieger bleiben/werden (Translations)