Adjacent Words

Contest definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CONTEST, v.t. [L., have a different sense, being equivalent to the English attest. See Test.]
1. To dispute; to strive earnestly to hold or maintain; to struggle to defend. The troops contested every inch of ground.
2. To dispute; to argue in opposition to; to controvert; to litigate; to oppose; to call in question; as, the advocate contested every point.
None have contested the proportion of these ancient pieces.
CONTEST, v.i.
1. To strive; to contend; followed by with.
The difficulty of an argument adds to the pleasure of contesting with it, when there are hopes of victory.
2. To vie; to emulate.
Of man who dares in pomp with Jove contest.
CONTEST, n.
1. Strife; struggle for victory, superiority, or in defense; struggle in arms. All Europe engaged in the contest against France. The contest was furious.
2. Dispute; debate; violent controversy; strife in argument.
Leave all noisy contests, all immodest clamors, and brawling language.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an occasion on which a winner is selected from among two or more contestants [syn: contest, competition]
2: a struggle between rivals v
1: to make the subject of dispute, contention, or litigation; "They contested the outcome of the race" [syn: contest, contend, repugn]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: Middle French contester, from Latin contestari (litem) to bring an action at law, from contestari to call to witness, from com- + testis witness — more at testament Date: 1603 intransitive verb strive, vie transitive verb to make the subject of dispute, contention, or litigation; especially dispute, challenge • contestable adjective • contester noun II. noun Date: 1630 1. a struggle for superiority or victory ; competition 2. a competition in which each contestant performs without direct contact with or interference from his competitors

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a process of contending; a competition. 2 a dispute; a controversy. --v.tr. 1 challenge or dispute (a decision etc.). 2 debate (a point, statement, etc.). 3 contend or compete for (a prize, parliamentary seat, etc.); compete in (an election). Derivatives: contestable adj. contester n. Etymology: L contestari (as COM-, testis witness)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Contest Con*test", v. i. To engage in contention, or emulation; to contend; to strive; to vie; to emulate; -- followed usually by with. The difficulty of an argument adds to the pleasure of contesting with it, when there are hopes of victory. --Bp. Burnet. Of man, who dares in pomp with Jove contest? --Pope.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Contest Con*test", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Contested; p. pr. & vb. n. Contesting.] [F. contester, fr. L. contestari to call to witness, contestari litem to introduce a lawsuit by calling witnesses, to bring an action; con- + testari to be a witness, testic witness. See Testify.] 1. To make a subject of dispute, contention, litigation, or emulation; to contend for; to call in question; to controvert; to oppose; to dispute. The people . . . contested not what was done. --Locke. Few philosophical aphorisms have been more frequenty repeated, few more contested than this. --J. D. Morell. 2. To strive earnestly to hold or maintain; to struggle to defend; as, the troops contested every inch of ground. 3. (Law) To make a subject of litigation; to defend, as a suit; to dispute or resist; as a claim, by course of law; to controvert. To contest an election. (Polit.) (a) To strive to be elected. (b) To dispute the declared result of an election. Syn: To dispute; controvert; debate; litigate; oppose; argue; contend.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Contest Con"test, n. 1. Earnest dispute; strife in argument; controversy; debate; altercation. Leave all noisy contests, all immodest clamors and brawling language. --I. Watts. 2. Earnest struggle for superiority, victory, defense, etc.; competition; emulation; strife in arms; conflict; combat; encounter. The late battle had, in effect, been a contest between one usurper and another. --Hallam. It was fully expected that the contest there would be long and fierce. --Macaulay. Syn: Conflict; combat; battle; encounter; shock; struggle; dispute; altercation; debate; controvesy; difference; disagreement; strife. Usage: Contest, Conflict, Combat, Encounter. Contest is the broadest term, and had originally no reference to actual fighting. It was, on the contrary, a legal term signifying to call witnesses, and hence came to denote first a struggle in argument, and then a struggle for some common object between opposing parties, usually one of considerable duration, and implying successive stages or acts. Conflict denotes literally a close personal engagement, in which sense it is applied to actual fighting. It is, however, more commonly used in a figurative sense to denote strenuous or direct opposition; as, a mental conflict; conflicting interests or passions; a conflict of laws. An encounter is a direct meeting face to face. Usually it is a hostile meeting, and is then very nearly coincident with conflict; as, an encounter of opposing hosts. Sometimes it is used in a looser sense; as, ``this keen encounter of our wits.'' --Shak. Combat is commonly applied to actual fighting, but may be used figuratively in reference to a strife or words or a struggle of feeling.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(contested) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A contest is a competition or game in which people try to win. Few contests in the recent history of British boxing have been as thrilling. ...a writing contest. N-COUNT see also beauty contest 2. A contest is a struggle to win power or control. The state election due in November will be the last such ballot before next year's presidential contest... ...a clear contest between church and state. N-COUNT 3. If someone contests an election or competition, they take part in it and try to win it. (mainly BRIT) He quickly won his party's nomination to contest the elections. ...a closely contested regional flower show. VERB: V n, V-ed 4. If you contest a statement or decision, you object to it formally because you think it is wrong or unreasonable. Your former employer has to reply within 14 days in order to contest the case... Gender discrimination is a hotly contested issue. = dispute VERB: V n, V-ed

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Dispute, controvert, argue, debate, litigate, contend against, call in question. 2. Strive to hold, struggle to defend. 3. Contend for, strive to carry, compete for, make the object of competition or rivalry or emulation. II. v. n. Contend, strive, struggle, vie, fight, compete, cope. III. n. 1. Dispute, altercation, debate, controversy, contention, quarrel, difference, high words, strife of words, war of words. 2. Struggle, battle, conflict, fight, combat, encounter, rencounter, strife in arms. 3. Competition, rivalry, contention.

Moby Thesaurus

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