runner-up

• runner up

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌɹʌn.əˈɹʌp/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌɹʌn.ɚˈʌp/

runner-up (plural runners-up or (colloquial, nonstandard) runner-ups)

1. The person who finishes second, or in any position after the first.

   Remember, if the winner cannot complete the duties, the runner-up will take over.

2. Second favourite.
   • 2022 July 11, Kate Conger; Mike Isaac, “How Elon Musk Damaged Twitter and Left It Worse Off”, in The New York Times‎, ISSN 0362-4331:

     For years, Twitter was a runner-up social media company. It never grew to the size and scale of a Facebook or an Instagram. It simply muddled along.