bridesmaid

noun

Pronunciation: /ˈbɹaɪdzˌmeɪd/

Etymology: From bride + -s- + maid. In the sports and entertainment sense: in reference to the saying always a bridesmaid, never a bride.

A woman who attends a bride during her wedding ceremony, as part of the main wedding party.
“I'd love to be your bridesmaid at the wedding.”
“I was promised sex. Everybody said it. You'll be a bridesmaid, you'll get sex, you'll be fighting 'em off. But not so much as a tongue in sight.”
A person or team that perennially finishes well, but never first.
“He had taken her for a dogsbody, a beta fish, a bridesmaid, a ride-along; he had looked right past her, as likely many people did.”

Etymology: From bride + -s- + maid. In the sports and entertainment sense: in reference to the saying always a bridesmaid, never a bride.

To act as a bridesmaid for; to attend a bride during her wedding ceremony.
“"No, Trichy; I won't be Augusta's bridesmaid; I'll bide my time for bridesmaiding."”
“And what's this? that isn't Herbie Frost with you in the canoe ; why he was best man when I bridesmaided Corinne.”