Part 2348

<p><b>2.</b> <def>Earnest struggle for superiority, victory, defense, etc.; competition; emulation; strife in arms; conflict; combat; encounter.</def>

<blockquote>The late battle had, in effect, been a <b>contest</b> between one usurper and another. <i>Hallam.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>It was fully expected that the <b>contest</b> there would be long and fierce. <i>Macaulay.</i></blockquote>

<syn>Syn. -- Conflict; combat; battle; encounter; shock; struggle; dispute; altercation; debate; controvesy; difference; disagreement; strife.</syn> <usage> -- <er>Contest</er>, <er>Conflict</er>, <er>Combat</er>, <er>Encounter</er>. <i>Contest</i> is the broadest term, and had originally no reference to actual fighting. It was, on the contrary, a legal term signifying to <i>call witnesses</i>, 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. <i>Conflict</i> 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 <i>conflict</i>; <i>conflicting</i> interests or passions; a <i>conflict</i> of laws. An <i>encounter</i> is a direct meeting face to face. Usually it is a hostile meeting, and is then very nearly coincident with <i>conflict</i>; as, an <i>encounter</i> of opposing hosts. Sometimes it is used in a looser sense; as, "this keen <i>encounter</i> of our wits." <i>Shak.</i> <i>Combat</i> is commonly applied to actual fighting, but may be used figuratively in reference to a strife or words or a struggle of feeling.</usage>

<h1>Contestable</h1> <Xpage=313>

<hw>Con*test"a*ble</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <ety>[Cf. F. <ets>contestable</ets>.]</ety> <def>Capable of being contested; debatable.</def>

<h1>Contestant</h1> <Xpage=313>

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

<h1>Contestation</h1> <Xpage=313>

<hw>Con`tes*ta"tion</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>contestatio</ets> testimony: cf. F. <ets>contestation</ets> a contesting.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>The act of contesting; emulation; rivalry; strife; dispute.</def> "Loverlike <i>contestation</i>."

<i>Milton.</i>

<blockquote>After years spent in domestic, unsociable <b>contestations</b>, she found means to withdraw. <i>Clarendon.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>Proof by witness; attestation; testimony.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<blockquote>A solemn <b>contestation</b> ratified on the part of God. <i>Barrow.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Contestingly</h1> <Xpage=313>

<hw>Con*test"ing*ly</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>adv.</tt> <def>In a contending manner.</def>

<h1>Contex</h1> <Xpage=313>

<hw>Con*tex</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>v. t.</tt> <def>To context.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<i>Boyle.</i>

<h1>Context</h1> <Xpage=313>

<hw>Con*text"</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>contextus</ets>, p.p. of <ets>contexere</ets> to weave, to unite; <ets>con-</ets> + <ets>texere</ets> to weave. See <er>Text</er>.]</ety> <def>Knit or woven together; close; firm.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<blockquote>The coats, without, are <b>context</b> and callous. <i>Derham.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Context</h1> <Xpage=313>

<hw>Con"text</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>contextus</ets>; cf. F. <ets>contexte</ets> .]</ety> <def>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.</def>

<blockquote>According to all the light that the <b>contexts</b> afford. <i>Sharp.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Context</h1> <Xpage=313>

<hw>Con*text"</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>v. t.</tt> <def>To knit or bind together; to unite closely.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<i>Feltham.</i>