challenge

noun

1. A confrontation; a dare.

   “Congratulations on managing to use the phrase “preponderant criterion” in a chart (“On your marks”, November 9th). Was this the work of a kakorrhaphiophobic journalist set a challenge by his colleagues, or simply an example of glossolalia?”

2. A confrontation; a dare.

   “a challenge to the king's authority”

   “For Liverpool, their season will now be regarded as a relative disappointment after failure to add the FA Cup to the Carling Cup and not mounting a challenge to reach the Champions League places.”

3. A confrontation; a dare.

   “Argentine midfielder Jonas Gutierrez added a superb second when he surged past four challenges to fire in low.”

4. A confrontation; a dare.
5. A confrontation; a dare.
6. A confrontation; a dare.
7. A difficult task, especially one that the person making the attempt finds more enjoyable because of that difficulty.
8. A procedure or action.
9. (rare)A procedure or action.

   “Consanguinity in direct line is a challenge for a judge when he or she is sitting cases.”

10. A procedure or action.

    “We're still waiting to hear how the court rules on our challenge of the arbitrator based on conflict of interest.”

11. (US)A procedure or action.
12. The opening and crying of hounds upon first finding the scent of their game.

verb

1. (transitive)To invite (someone) to take part in a competition.

   “We challenged the boys next door to a game of football.”

   “By this I challenge him to single fight.”

2. (transitive)To dare (someone).

   “[...] For I challenge any Man to make any pretence to Power by Right of Fatherhood, either intelligible or poſſible in any one, otherwiſe, then either as Adams heir, or as Progenitor over his own deſcendants, naturally ſprung from him.”

3. (transitive)To dispute (something); to contest.

   “to challenge the accuracy of a statement or of a quotation”

   “In the April 2020 Roade fatality, the worker who died "was reputedly in the habit of walking on the line when he didn't need to". Tragically, no one challenged him about it.”

4. To call something into question or dispute.

   “New information challenged old hypotheses.”

5. (transitive)To make a formal objection to a juror.
6. (transitive)To be difficult or challenging for.

   “Before moving onto the content of Hobson-Jobson, an explication of the publication history is necessary since this has clearly challenged many commentators.”

7. (obsolete, transitive)To claim as due; to demand as a right.

   “Challenge better terms.”

8. (obsolete, transitive)To censure; to blame.

   “I may be more challenged for my inconsiderate Boldness”

9. (transitive)To question or demand the countersign from (one who attempts to pass the lines).

   “The sentinel challenged us with "Who goes there?"”

10. (US, transitive)To object to the reception of the vote of, e.g. on the ground that the person is not qualified as a voter.
11. (Canada, US, transitive)To take (a final exam) in order to get credit for a course without taking it.

    “I mean if you go in and want to challenge an exam it cost you half of your course money. If you don't pass the exam, that money is credited toward taking the course. What have you got to lose to challenge an exam, or do a competency exam?”

    “The only time I went to class was to challenge an exam. My marks were good. But there was one class I never missed, “Nursing Process and the New Philosophy in Nursing.””

    “Although we strongly recommend that you keep practicing until your scores top the 75% mark, 80% would be a good goal, to give yourself some margin for error in a real exam situation[…]. After you hit that point, you should be ready to challenge the exam.”