[f. prec. sb.]
† 1. To challenge to a contest; to bid defiance to. rare. Obs.
1605. Shaks., Macb., III. i. 72. The Seedes of Banquo Kings. Rather then so, come Fate into the Lyst, And champion me to th’vtterance.
1821. Byron, Juan, IV. xliii. She stood as one who champion’d human fears.
2. To fight for; to defend or protect as champion.
[Not in Todd 1818, or earlier dicts.]
1820. Scott, Ivanhoe, xxxix. Championed or unchampioned, thou diest by the stake and fagot.
1839–40. W. Irving, Wolfert’s R. (1855), 279. Who ever … championed them [dames] more gallantly in the chivalrous tilts of the Vivarambla?
3. fig. To maintain the cause of, stand up for, uphold, support, back, defend, advocate.
1844. H. Rogers, Ess., I. ii. 77. His nature … prompted him to champion any cause in which justice had been outraged or innocence wronged.
1861. Dickens, Lett. (1880), II. 140. The idea must be championed, however much against hope.
1863. Cowden Clarke, Shaks. Char., xvi. 402. If a friend be in adversity, Gratiano will champion him with good words and deeds.
4. To make a champion of. rare.
1886. Spurgeon, Treas. Dav., Ps. cxlii. 7. They crowned him, and championed him.
Hence Championing ppl. a.
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., IV. xi. The championing little wife.
Champion, obs. f. CAMPION, and ? CHAMPIGNON.
