"also-ran" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "From the world of horse race betting, where lists of winners would be published with non-paying positions printed in a block under the heading “Also Ran”.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "also-rans",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "also-ran (plural also-rans)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "first loser"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "nearly man"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "underdog"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "61 39",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A person or animal who competed in a race but did not win."
      ],
      "id": "en-also-ran-en-noun-MsrUGidi",
      "links": [
        [
          "race",
          "race"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "79 21",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "a person or animal who competed in a race but did not win",
          "word": "ferner liefen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "79 21",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "a person or animal who competed in a race but did not win",
          "tags": [
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "futottak még"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1960 June 18, “Nerves of Steel”, in The New York Times",
          "text": "It also turned Palmer from an also-ran into a challenger.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1962, Records of the Proceedings and Printed Papers of the Parliament, volume 4, Australia, page 261",
          "text": "I have 37 actors and actresses I would supply for television and radio work and then I have maybe 150 to 200 also-rans who get extra work and television commercials.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1978 April 26, Janet Maslin, “Film: Scorsese and the Band”, in The New York Times",
          "text": "[…]some of Mr. Scorsese's accomplishments have been so stunning—that it's impossible to view \"The Last Waltz\" as anything but an also-ran.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1993, Martin Yate, Hiring the Best, Adams Media, page 58",
          "text": "And, of course, it is also far easier, quicker, and less embarrassing to dismiss an also-ran over the phone than it is in person […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1998, Richard C Dorf, The Technology Management Handbook, CRC Press, page 40",
          "text": "[…]as the drug came out of the R&D laboratory, it could have been just another also-ran […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004 August 9, The New Yorker, page 40",
          "text": "The transition from comer to also-ran can be quick […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A loser; a person or thing soon to be forgotten."
      ],
      "id": "en-also-ran-en-noun-Xl7om1Z3",
      "links": [
        [
          "loser",
          "loser"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figuratively) A loser; a person or thing soon to be forgotten."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "also-ran"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From the world of horse race betting, where lists of winners would be published with non-paying positions printed in a block under the heading “Also Ran”.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "also-rans",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "also-ran (plural also-rans)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "first loser"
    },
    {
      "word": "nearly man"
    },
    {
      "word": "underdog"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A person or animal who competed in a race but did not win."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "race",
          "race"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1960 June 18, “Nerves of Steel”, in The New York Times",
          "text": "It also turned Palmer from an also-ran into a challenger.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1962, Records of the Proceedings and Printed Papers of the Parliament, volume 4, Australia, page 261",
          "text": "I have 37 actors and actresses I would supply for television and radio work and then I have maybe 150 to 200 also-rans who get extra work and television commercials.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1978 April 26, Janet Maslin, “Film: Scorsese and the Band”, in The New York Times",
          "text": "[…]some of Mr. Scorsese's accomplishments have been so stunning—that it's impossible to view \"The Last Waltz\" as anything but an also-ran.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1993, Martin Yate, Hiring the Best, Adams Media, page 58",
          "text": "And, of course, it is also far easier, quicker, and less embarrassing to dismiss an also-ran over the phone than it is in person […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1998, Richard C Dorf, The Technology Management Handbook, CRC Press, page 40",
          "text": "[…]as the drug came out of the R&D laboratory, it could have been just another also-ran […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004 August 9, The New Yorker, page 40",
          "text": "The transition from comer to also-ran can be quick […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A loser; a person or thing soon to be forgotten."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "loser",
          "loser"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figuratively) A loser; a person or thing soon to be forgotten."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "a person or animal who competed in a race but did not win",
      "word": "ferner liefen"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "a person or animal who competed in a race but did not win",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "futottak még"
    }
  ],
  "word": "also-ran"
}