match vs rival

match

verb
  • To equal or exceed in achievement. 

  • To make a successful match or pairing. 

  • To agree; to be equal; to correspond. 

  • To agree with; to be equal to; to correspond to. 

  • To fit together, or make suitable for fitting together; specifically, to furnish with a tongue and groove at the edges. 

  • To be an example of a rule or regex. 

noun
  • A device made of wood or paper, at the tip coated with chemicals that ignite with the friction of being dragged (struck) against a rough dry surface. 

  • Any contest or trial of strength or skill, or to determine superiority. 

  • Equality of conditions in contest or competition. 

  • A candidate for matrimony; one to be gained in marriage. 

  • A competitive sporting event such as a boxing meet, a baseball game, or a cricket match. 

  • Equivalence; a state of correspondence. 

  • A marriage. 

  • A pair of items or entities with mutually suitable characteristics. 

  • Suitability. 

  • An agreement or compact. 

  • A perforated board, block of plaster, hardened sand, etc., in which a pattern is partly embedded when a mould is made, for giving shape to the surfaces of separation between the parts of the mould. 

  • Someone with a measure of an attribute equaling or exceeding the object of comparison. 

rival

verb
  • To be equal to, or match, or to surpass another. 

  • To oppose or compete with. 

  • To strive to equal or excel; to emulate. 

noun
  • A competitor (person, team, company, etc.) with the same goal as another, or striving to attain the same thing. Defeating a rival may be a primary or necessary goal of a competitor. 

  • Someone or something with similar claims of quality or distinction as another. 

adj
  • Having the same pretensions or claims; standing in competition for superiority. 

How often have the words match and rival occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )