contest

English

Etymology

From Late Old French contester, from Latin contestor (“to call to witness”)

Pronunciation

Noun

• (UK) IPA: /ˈkɒn.tɛst/, X-SAMPA: /"kQn.tEst/
• (US) enPR: kŏn'tĕst, IPA: /ˈkɑn.tɛst/, X-SAMPA: /"kAn.tEst/
• Rhymes: -ɒntɛst

Verb

• (UK, US) enPR: kəntĕst', IPA: /kənˈtɛst/, X-SAMPA: /k@n"tEst/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛst

Noun

contest (countable and uncountable; plural contests)

1. (uncountable) Controversy; debate.

   no contest

2. (uncountable) Struggle for superiority; combat.
3. (countable) A competition.

   The child entered the spelling contest.

Synonyms

• (controversy): controversy, debate, discussion
• (combat): battle, combat, fight
• (competition): competition, pageant

Derived terms

Terms derived from the noun "contest"

contest shape fashion contest no contest

pissing contest popularity contest wet t-shirt contest will contest

Translations

controversy

• Bulgarian: спор (bg) (spor) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 爭論 (cmn), 争论 (cmn) (zhēnglùn)

• Finnish: riita (fi)
• Greek: συναγωνισμός (el) (synagonismós) m
• Norwegian: debatt (no) m, diskusjon (no) m

• Polish: spór (pl) m, debata (pl) f
• Romanian: controversă (ro) f, dispută (ro) f, dezbatere (ro)
• Russian: спор (ru) (spor) m, диспут (ru) (dísput) m
• Spanish: debate (es) m
• Swahili: mashindano (sw)
• Telugu: చర్చనీయాంశము (te) (carcaniyamsamu)

combat — see combat

competition

• Armenian: մրցույթ (hy) (mrc’uyt’)
• Azeri: müsabiqə (az)
• Bulgarian: състезание (bg) (sǎstezánie) n, конкурс (bg) (kónkurs) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 競賽 (cmn), 竞赛 (cmn) (jìngsài), 比賽 (cmn), 比赛 (cmn) (bǐsài)

• Czech: soutěž (cs) f
• Dutch: wedstrijd (nl)
• Esperanto: konkurso (eo)
• Finnish: kilpailu (fi)
• French: concours (fr) m, compétition (fr) f
• Georgian: შეჯიბრი (ka) (šeǰibri)
• German: Wettkampf (de) m, Wettbewerb (de) m, Wettstreit (de) m
• Greek: διαγωνισμός (el) (diagonismós) m

  Ancient: ἀγών (agōn) m

• Hebrew: תחרות (he) (takharút) f
• Italian: concorso (it) m
• Japanese: コンクール (ja) (konkūru), コンテスト (ja) (kontesuto), 競争 (ja) (きょうそう, kyōsō)
• Norwegian: konkurranse (no) m
• Polish: konkurs (pl) m
• Portuguese: concurso (pt), competição (pt)
• Romanian: competiție (ro) f, întrecere (ro) f
• Russian: конкурс (ru) (kónkurs) m, состязание (ru) (sostjazánije) n, соревнование (ru) (sorevnovánije) n
• Spanish: concurso (es) m, competencia (es) f, competición (es) f
• Swahili: shindano (sw)
• Telugu: పోటీలు (te) (potilu)
• Turkish: yarışma (tr), yarış (tr), müsabaka (tr)

Verb

contest (third-person singular simple present contests, present participle contesting, simple past and past participle contested)

1. (intransitive) To contend.

   I will contest for the open seat on the board.

   • Alexander Pope

     Of man, who dares in pomp with Jove contest?

   • Bishop Burnet

     The difficulty of an argument adds to the pleasure of contesting with it, when there are hopes of victory.

2. (transitive) To call into question; to oppose.

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

Synonyms

• (contend): compete, contend, go in for
• (oppose): call into question, oppose

Antonyms

• (oppose): support

Translations

to contend

• Bulgarian: състезавам се (bg) (sǎstezavam se)
• Finnish: tavoitella (fi), kilpailla (fi)
• Hebrew: התחרה (he) (hitkhará)
• Portuguese: contender (pt)

• Spanish: competir (es)
• Swahili: shindana (sw)
• Telugu: పోటీ చేయు (te) (poti ceyu)

to oppose

• Bulgarian: споря (bg) (sporja), оспорвам (bg) (osporvam)
• Finnish: (to call into question) kyseenalaistaa (fi), kritisoida (fi), (to oppose) vastustaa (fi)
• Jèrriais: contester

• Portuguese: contestar (pt), questionar (pt)
• Spanish: cuestionar (es), impugnar (es), oponerse (es)
• Swahili: mashindano (sw)
• Telugu: ఎదిరించు (te) (edirimcu)