repechage
Noun: A repechage is a secondary contest or heat, especially in rowing, fencing, wrestling, or other sports, in which competitors who did not win their initial heats get a second chance to qualify for the next round or the final.
The term is used specifically in the context of sports tournaments. It refers to a system designed to give athletes or teams a second opportunity after an initial loss, ensuring that strong competitors are not eliminated early due to a single difficult match or heat. * The repechage round allowed the defeated rower another shot at making the final. * After losing her first bout, she qualified for the semifinals through the repechage.
- To go into a repechage / To compete in a repechage: These phrases describe the action of entering this second-chance round.
- The team's narrow loss meant they would go into tomorrow's repechage.
- Repechage system / Repechage round: These compound terms specify the structure or the specific instance of the contest.
- The tournament uses a repechage system to determine the bronze medalists.
- Repechage is a loanword from French and is used as-is in English. It does not have standard verb or adjective forms.
- Second-chance race/heat: A descriptive phrase with a similar meaning.
- Consolation round: A related term, though a consolation round may not always offer a path to the final like a repechage does.
- Second-chance heat
- Qualification race (specific context)
- Losers' bracket (in some tournament formats)
- Final
- Main heat
- Direct qualification
There are no common idioms using the word "repechage." It is a technical term specific to sports competition formats.
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a race (especially in rowing) in which runners-up in the eliminating heats compete for a place in the final race
