From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcontestcon‧test1 /ˈkɒntest $ ˈkɑːn-/ ●●○ W3 noun [countable] 1 COMPETITIONa competition or a situation in which two or more people or groups are competing with each othercontest for the bitter contest for the Republican presidential nomination Stone decided to hold a contest to see who could write the best song. I only entered the contest for fun. It is clear that the election will be a close contest.contest between/against the 1960 contest between Kennedy and Nixon the 1975 Liberal leadership contest2 → no contest3 → plead no contestCOLLOCATIONSverbsenter a contest (=take part in one)Anyone over 18 years old can enter the contest.take part in a contestTwenty-five countries took part in the contest.compete in a contestThe band has competed in many contests over the years.win/lose a contestHe won a public-speaking contest at his school.withdraw from a contest (=stop taking part in a contest)Two candidates had withdrawn from the contest.have/hold a contestMy college holds an athletics contest once a year.a contest takes placeThe contest took place in Berlin.ADJECTIVES/NOUN + contesta leadership contest (=in which two politicians compete to become leader of their party)The party did not want the turmoil of a leadership contest.a presidential contestthe 1987 U.S presidential contestan electoral/election contestWhat will be the outcome of the electoral contest?a beauty contest (=to find the most beautiful person)Miss Colombia won the beauty contest.a talent contest (=to find the best performer)She's singing a song in the school talent contest.a popularity contest (=to decide which person people like the most)The competition has turned into a popularity contest.close (=one which someone wins by a very small amount)The race was a close contest between two evenly matched crews.fair (=one in which everyone has the same chance of winning)Divide the class into groups in a way that will make it a fair contest.even/equal British English (=one in which everyone has the same chance of winning)One of the men was much older so it was hardly an even contest.uneven/unequal British English (=one in which one of the people, groups etc has a better chance of winning)Given their military strength, the war was a pretty unequal contest.
Examples from the Corpus
contest• Harriet decided to enter Henry in the cute baby contest.• She won several beauty contests when she was in her early twenties.• But one thing remained constant: In a big contest, Gretzky will come through in a big way.• a close contest for the mayor's job• The essay contest is open to all teenagers.• We had many good contests on the track and there was some conflict off the track as well.• Jack always wins the pub's karaoke contest.• The company also pleaded no contest to falsifying its records to hide the illegal contributions.• The event, held every four years in Fort Worth, Texas, is the country's leading piano contest.• In the tactical contest Wilkinson emerged on top.• Lena knew that she had entered the contest without the support of others in the church.• Did I mention that the contest is also a fund-raiser?• He looked very nice in it and he did win the contest, so Ken did know what he was doing.• As the boss of this contest, you get to set the rules.• Jake always enters the arm-wrestling contest at the local fair.leadership contest• He voted for Mr Heseltine rather than Mrs Thatcher in the 1990 leadership contest.• He presided over the 1990 leadership contest that saw the departure of Margaret Thatcher and the arrival of John Major.• Refuse to play games Is there an alternative for Labour to the introspection of leadership contests and inquests?• By the closing date for nominations for the leadership contest of Nov. 15 only Thatcher and Heseltine had been nominated.• His next sentence unobtrusively removed an argument that might have been used against me in the leadership contest.• Labour's National Executive Committee agreed last night that the leadership contest should take place at a special conference on July 18.• He certainly welcomed the leadership contest, but then so did many others.contestcon‧test2 /kənˈtest/ ●●○ verb [transitive] formal 1 SCLto say formally that you do not accept something or do not agree with it His brothers are contesting the will.2 COMPETE WITH/TRY TO BEATto compete for something or to try to win it His wife is contesting a seat on the council.→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
contest• The ruling party will contest 158 seats in Algeria's elections.• Among domestic mergers, the buyout of Credito Romagnolo was the most contested.• No one seriously contests any more that a hostile tax climate has hurt New York's economy.• The leadership election will be contested by four candidates.• The region has been fiercely contested by guerrillas and the paramilitary forces for the past few years.• These last propositions were hotly contested in the apostolic community.• Congress had granted him another amnesty to contest the 1992 election.• The pharmacy company contested the agency's findings.• She filed in the fall of 1989, and at that time, her former husband did not contest the petition.• In 1991 White contested the US Open and the J G Scott Trophy.-• Medical science is contesting the will.Origin contest2 (1500-1600) French contester, from Latin contestari “to call a witness, bring a legal case”, from com- ( → COM-) + testis “witness” 