Part 513

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. -- 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.

Con*test"a*ble (?), a. [Cf. F. contestable.] Capable of being contested; debatable.

Con*test"ant (?), n. [Cf. F. contestant.] One who contests; an opponent; a litigant; a disputant; one who claims that which has been awarded to another.

Con`tes*ta"tion (?), n. [L. contestatio testimony: cf. F. contestation a contesting.] 1. The act of contesting; emulation; rivalry; strife; dispute. "Loverlike contestation." Milton.

After years spent in domestic, unsociable contestations, she found means to withdraw. Clarendon.

2. Proof by witness; attestation; testimony. [Obs.]

A solemn contestation ratified on the part of God. Barrow.

Con*test"ing*ly (?), adv. In a contending manner.

Con*tex (?), v. t. To context. [Obs.] Boyle.

Con*text" (?), a. [L. contextus, p. p. of contexere to weave, to unite; con- + texere to weave. See Text.] Knit or woven together; close; firm. [Obs.]

The coats, without, are context and callous. Derham.

Con"text (?), n. [L. contextus; cf. F. contexte .] The part or parts of something written or printed, as of Scripture, which precede or follow a text or quoted sentence, or are so intimately associated with it as to throw light upon its meaning.

According to all the light that the contexts afford. Sharp.

Con*text" (?), v. t. To knit or bind together; to unite closely. [Obs.] Feltham.

The whole world's frame, which is contexted only by commerce and contracts. R. Junius.

Con*tex"tur*al (?; 135), a. Pertaining to contexture or arrangement of parts; producing contexture; interwoven. Dr. John Smith (1666).

Con*tex"ture (?; 135), n. [Cf. F. contexture.] The arrangement and union of the constituent parts of a thing; a weaving together of parts; structural character of a thing; system; constitution; texture.

That wonderful contexture of all created beings. Dryden.

He was not of any delicate contexture; his limbs rather sturdy than dainty. Sir H. Wotton.

Con*tex"tured (?; 135), a. Formed into texture; woven together; arranged; composed. [R.] Carlyle.

Con"ti*cent (?), a. [L. conticens, p. pr. of conticere; con- + tacere to be silent.] Silent. [R.] "The guests sit conticent." Thackeray.

Con`tig*na"tion (?), n. [L. contignatio, fr. contignare to join with beams; con- + tignum beam.] 1. The act or process of framing together, or uniting, as beams in a fabric. Burke.

2. A framework or fabric, as of beams. Sir H. Wotton.

Con*tig"u*ate (?), a. [LL. contiguatus.] Contiguous; touching. [Obs.] Holland.

Con`ti*gu"i*ty (?), n. [Cf. F. contiguitÚ, LL. contiguitas.] The state of being contiguous; intimate association; nearness; proximity.

The convicinity and contiguity of the two parishes. T. Warton.

Con*tig"u*ous (?), a. [L. contiguus; akin to contigere to touch on all sides. See Contingent.] In actual contact; touching; also, adjacent; near; neighboring; adjoining.