Library / English Dictionary

CONTEST

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A struggle between rivals

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("contest" is a kind of...):

competition; contention; rivalry (the act of competing as for profit or a prize)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "contest"):

battle of wits (a contest in which intelligence rather than violence is used)

bidding contest (a series of competing bids)

popularity contest (competition (real or figurative) for popular support)

Derivation:

contest (to make the subject of dispute, contention, or litigation)

Sense 2

Meaning:

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

Synonyms:

competition; contest

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("contest" is a kind of...):

social event (an event characteristic of persons forming groups)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "contest"):

trial ((sports) a preliminary competition to determine qualifications)

spelldown; spelling bee; spelling contest (a contest in which you are eliminated if you fail to spell a word correctly)

race (any competition)

tournament (a series of jousts between knights contesting for a prize)

match (a formal contest in which two or more persons or teams compete)

field trial (a contest between gun dogs to determine their proficiency in pointing and retrieving)

series ((sports) several contests played successively by the same teams)

rubber (a contest consisting of a series of successive matches between the same sides)

playoff (any final competition to determine a championship)

tournament; tourney (a sporting competition in which contestants play a series of games to decide the winner)

race (a contest of speed)

dogfight (a fiercely disputed contest)

cliffhanger (a contest whose outcome is uncertain up to the very end)

chicken (a foolhardy competition; a dangerous activity that is continued until one competitor becomes afraid and stops)

championship (a competition at which a champion is chosen)

bout (a contest or fight (especially between boxers or wrestlers))

athletic competition; athletic contest; athletics (a contest between athletes)

game (a single play of a sport or other contest)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

To make the subject of dispute, contention, or litigation

Example:

They contested the outcome of the race

Synonyms:

contend; contest; repugn

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "contest" is one way to...):

oppose (be against; express opposition to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "contest"):

challenge; dispute; gainsay (take exception to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

contest (a struggle between rivals)

contestable (capable of being contested)

contestation (a contentious speech act; a dispute where there is strong disagreement)

contestee (a winner (of a race or an election etc.) whose victory is contested)

contester (someone who contests an outcome (of a race or an election etc.))

Credits

 Context examples: 

But supposing all these conjectures to be false, you cannot contest the inestimable benefit which I shall confer on all mankind, to the last generation, by discovering a passage near the pole to those countries, to reach which at present so many months are requisite; or by ascertaining the secret of the magnet, which, if at all possible, can only be effected by an undertaking such as mine.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

The English played well, but the Americans played better, and contested every inch of the ground as strongly as if the spirit of '76 inspired them. Jo and Fred had several skirmishes and once narrowly escaped high words. Jo was through the last wicket and had missed the stroke, which failure ruffled her a good deal. Fred was close behind her and his turn came before hers. He gave a stroke, his ball hit the wicket, and stopped an inch on the wrong side. No one was very near, and running up to examine, he gave it a sly nudge with his toe, which put it just an inch on the right side.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Nearer and nearer came the two birds, all absorbed in their own contest, the stork wheeling upwards, the hawk still fluttering above it, until they were not a hundred paces from the camp.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

While this affair was hanging fire, he proved that he understood the principles of the Democratic Party by winning the first prize for his essay in a similar contest.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

By this strange turn of fate we have seen and helped to decide even such a contest.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Quite a crowd had gathered silently around, and I could see that the talk had been regarded as a contest between two men who were looked upon as rival arbiters of fashion.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

My object, when the contest within myself between stipend and no stipend, baker and no baker, existence and non-existence, ceased, was to take advantage of my opportunities to discover and expose the major malpractices committed, to that gentleman's grievous wrong and injury, by—HEEP.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

An examination by experts leaves little doubt that a personal contest between the two men ended, as it could hardly fail to end in such a situation, in their reeling over, locked in each other’s arms.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

With Mr. Allen to support her, she felt no dread of the event: but she would gladly be spared a contest, where victory itself was painful, and was heartily rejoiced therefore at neither seeing nor hearing anything of them.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

A double issue seemed to rest upon their contest, for their personal fame was at stake as well as their party's honor.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)