challenge
/ˈt͡ʃæl.ɪnd͡ʒ/ noun, verb
Forms challenges challenging challenged
- noun An antagonization or instigation intended to convince a person to perform an action they otherwise would not.
- noun A bid to overcome something. “a challenge to the king's authority”
- noun (sports) An attempt to take possession; a tackle.
- noun A summons to fight a duel; also, the letter or message conveying the summons.
- noun The act of a sentry in halting a person and demanding the countersign, or (by extension) the action of a computer system demanding a password, etc.
- noun An attempt to have a work of literature restricted or removed from a public library or school curriculum.
- noun A difficult task, especially one that the person making the attempt finds more enjoyable because of that difficulty.
- noun The act of appealing a ruling or decision of a court of administrative agency.
- verb (transitive) To invite (someone) to take part in a competition. “We challenged the boys next door to a game of football.”
- verb (transitive) To dare (someone).
- verb (transitive) To dispute (something); to contest. “to challenge the accuracy of a statement or of a quotation”
- verb To call something into question or dispute. “New information challenged old hypotheses.”
- verb (law, transitive) To make a formal objection to a juror.
- verb (transitive) To be difficult or challenging for.
- verb (obsolete, transitive) To claim as due; to demand as a right.
- verb (obsolete, transitive) To censure; to blame.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English chalenge, variant with palatalization of Middle English kalange (“an accusation, claim”), from Old French chalenge, chalonge, palatalized Central French variants of Old Northern French calenge, calonge (see Continental Norman calengier), from Latin calumnia (“a false accusation, calumny”).
Cognate with Old English hōl (“calumny”). Doublet of calumny.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An invitation to engage in a contest or controversy of any kind; a defiance; specifically, a summons to fight a duel; also, the letter or message conveying the summons.
- noun The act of a sentry in halting any one who appears at his post, and demanding the countersign.
- verb To call to a contest of any kind; to call to answer; to defy.
- verb To call, invite, or summon to answer for an offense by personal combat.
Etymology [OE. chalenge claim, accusation, challenge, OF. chalenge, chalonge, claim, accusation, contest, fr. L. calumnia false accusation, chicanery. See Calumny.]
Etymology [OE. chalengen to accuse, claim, OF. chalengier, chalongier, to claim, accuse, dispute, fr. L. calumniar to attack with false accusations. See Challenge, n., and cf. Calumniate.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “challenge”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details