Contest vs. Challenge

Contestnoun

(uncountable) Controversy; debate.

‘no contest’;

Challengenoun

A confrontation; a dare.

Contestnoun

(uncountable) Struggle for superiority; combat.

Challengenoun

An instigation or antagonization intended to convince a person to perform an action they otherwise would not.

Contestnoun

(countable) A competition.

‘The child entered the spelling contest.’;

Challengenoun

A bid to overcome something.

‘a challenge to the king's authority’;

Contestverb

(intransitive) To contend.

‘I will contest for the open seat on the board.’;

Challengenoun

(sports) An attempt to take possession; a tackle

Contestverb

(transitive) To call into question; to oppose.

‘The rival contested the dictator's re-election because of claims of voting irregularities.’;

Challengenoun

A summons to fight a duel; also, the letter or message conveying the summons.

Contestverb

(transitive) To strive earnestly to hold or maintain; to struggle to defend.

‘The troops contested every inch of ground.’;

Challengenoun

The act of a sentry in halting a person and demanding the countersign, or (by extension) the action of a computer system demanding a password, etc.

Contestverb

(legal) To make a subject of litigation; to defend, as a suit; to dispute or resist, as a claim, by course of law; to controvert.

Challengenoun

An attempt to have a work of literature restricted or removed from a public library or school curriculum.

Contestverb

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.’; ‘Few philosophical aphorisms have been more frequenty repeated, few more contested than this.’;

Challengenoun

A difficult task, especially one that the person making the attempt finds more enjoyable because of that difficulty.

Contestverb

To strive earnestly to hold or maintain; to struggle to defend; as, the troops contested every inch of ground.

Challengenoun

(legal) A procedure or action.

Contestverb

To make a subject of litigation; to defend, as a suit; to dispute or resist; as a claim, by course of law; to controvert.

Challengenoun

A judge's interest in the result of the case for which he or she should not be allowed to sit the case, e.g. a conflict of interest.

‘Consanguinity in direct line is a challenge for a judge when he or she is sitting cases.’;

Contestverb

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.’; ‘Of man, who dares in pomp with Jove contest?’;

Challengenoun

The act of appealing a ruling or decision of a court of administrative agency.

Contestnoun

Earnest dispute; strife in argument; controversy; debate; altercation.

‘Leave all noisy contests, all immodest clamors and brawling language.’;

Challengenoun

The act of seeking to remove a judge, arbitrator or other judicial or semi-judicial figure for reasons of alleged bias or incapacity.

‘We're still waiting to hear how the court rules on our challenge of the arbitrator based on conflict of interest.’;

Contestnoun

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.’; ‘It was fully expected that the contest there would be long and fierce.’;

Challengenoun

(US) An exception to a person as not legally qualified to vote. The challenge must be made when the ballot is offered.

Contestnoun

an occasion on which a winner is selected from among two or more contestants

Challengenoun

(hunting) The opening and crying of hounds at first finding the scent of their game.

Contestnoun

a struggle between rivals

Challengeverb

To invite someone to take part in a competition.

‘We challenged the boys next door to a game of football.’;

Contestverb

to make the subject of dispute, contention, or litigation;

‘They contested the outcome of the race’;

Challengeverb

To dare someone.

Contestnoun

an event in which people compete for supremacy in a sport or other activity, or in a quality

‘a tennis contest’;

Challengeverb

To dispute something.

‘to challenge the accuracy of a statement or of a quotation’;

Contestnoun

a competition for a political position

‘a leadership contest’;

Challengeverb

(legal) To make a formal objection to a juror.

Contestnoun

a dispute or conflict

‘a contest between traditional and liberal views’;

Challengeverb

(obsolete) To claim as due; to demand as a right.

Contestverb

engage in competition to attain (a position of power)

‘she declared her intention to contest the presidency’;

Challengeverb

(obsolete) To censure; to blame.

Contestverb

take part in (a competition or election)

‘a coalition was formed to contest the presidential elections’;

Challengeverb

(military) To question or demand the countersign from (one who attempts to pass the lines).

‘The sentinel challenged us with "Who goes there?"’;

Contestverb

oppose (an action or theory) as mistaken or wrong

‘the former chairman contests his dismissal’;

Challengeverb

(US) To object to the reception of the vote of, e.g. on the ground that the person is not qualified as a voter.

Contestverb

engage in dispute about

‘the issues have been hotly contested’;

Challengeverb

To take (a final exam) in order to get credit for a course without taking it.

Challengenoun

An invitation to engage in a contest or controversy of any kind; a defiance; specifically, a summons to fight a duel; also, the letter or message conveying the summons.

‘A challenge to controversy.’;

Challengenoun

The act of a sentry in halting any one who appears at his post, and demanding the countersign.

Challengenoun

A claim or demand.

‘There must be no challenge of superiority.’;

Challengenoun

The opening and crying of hounds at first finding the scent of their game.

Challengenoun

An exception to a juror or to a member of a court martial, coupled with a demand that he should be held incompetent to act; the claim of a party that a certain person or persons shall not sit in trial upon him or his cause.

Challengenoun

An exception to a person as not legally qualified to vote. The challenge must be made when the ballot is offered.

Challengeverb

To call to a contest of any kind; to call to answer; to defy.

‘I challenge any man to make any pretense to power by right of fatherhood.’;

Challengeverb

To call, invite, or summon to answer for an offense by personal combat.

‘By this I challenge him to single fight.’;

Challengeverb

To claim as due; to demand as a right.

‘Challenge better terms.’;

Challengeverb

To censure; to blame.

‘He complained of the emperors . . . and challenged them for that he had no greater revenues . . . from them.’;

Challengeverb

To question or demand the countersign from (one who attempts to pass the lines); as, the sentinel challenged us, with "Who comes there?"

Challengeverb

To take exception to; question; as, to challenge the accuracy of a statement or of a quotation.

Challengeverb

To object to or take exception to, as to a juror, or member of a court.

Challengeverb

To object to the reception of the vote of, as on the ground that the person in not qualified as a voter.

Challengeverb

To assert a right; to claim a place.

‘Where nature doth with merit challenge.’;

Challengenoun

a demanding or stimulating situation;

‘they reacted irrationally to the challenge of Russian power’;

Challengenoun

a call to engage in a contest or fight

Challengenoun

questioning a statement and demanding an explanation;

‘his challenge of the assumption that Japan is still our enemy’;

Challengenoun

a formal objection to the selection of a particular person as a juror

Challengenoun

a demand by a sentry for a password or identification

Challengeverb

take exception to;

‘She challenged his claims’;

Challengeverb

issue a challenge to;

‘Fischer challenged Spassky to a match’;

Challengeverb

ask for identification;

‘The illegal immigrant was challenged by the border guard’;

Challengeverb

raise a formal objection in a court of law

Challengenoun

a call to someone to participate in a competitive situation or fight to decide who is superior in terms of ability or strength

‘he accepted the challenge’;

Challengenoun

a task or situation that tests someone's abilities

‘he took up the challenge of organizing a sports afternoon’; ‘the traverse of the ridge is a challenge for experienced climbers’;

Challengenoun

an attempt to win a contest or championship in a sport

‘he is desperate for a third world title challenge’;

Challengenoun

a call to prove or justify something

‘a challenge to the legality of the banning order’;

Challengenoun

a guard's call for a password or other proof of identity

‘I heard the challenge ‘Who goes there?’’;

Challengenoun

an objection regarding the eligibility or suitability of a jury member.

Challengenoun

exposure of the immune system to pathogenic organisms or antigens

‘recently vaccinated calves should be protected from challenge’;

Challengeverb

dispute the truth or validity of

‘it is possible to challenge the report's assumptions’;

Challengeverb

object to (a jury member)

‘a certain number of jurors may be challenged’;

Challengeverb

(of a guard) order (someone) to prove their identity

‘the watchman did not challenge him’;

Challengeverb

invite (someone) to engage in a contest

‘he challenged one of my men to a duel’; ‘organizations challenged the government in by-elections’;

Challengeverb

enter into competition with or opposition against.

Challengeverb

make a rival claim to or threaten someone's hold on (a position)

‘they were challenging his leadership’;

Challengeverb

invite (someone) to do or say something that one thinks will be difficult or impossible

‘I challenge the Minister to deny these accusations’;

Challengeverb

make demands on; prove testing to

‘a new way of life that would challenge them’;

Challengeverb

expose (the immune system) to pathogenic organisms or antigens.