CHALLENGE | Meaning, Definition In Cambridge English Dictionary

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Meaning of challenge in English challengenoun uk /ˈtʃæl.ɪndʒ/ us /ˈtʃæl.ɪndʒ/

challenge noun (DIFFICULT JOB)

Add to word list Add to word list B1 [ C or U ] (the situation of being faced with) something that needs great mental or physical effort in order to be done successfully and therefore tests a person's ability: face a challenge Finding a solution to this problem is one of the greatest challenges faced by scientists today. You know me - I like a challenge.rise to the challenge It's going to be a difficult job but I'm sure she'll rise to the challenge.
  • Europe's finest golfers are getting ready for the challenge of the Ryder Cup.
  • An awesome challenge lies ahead of them.
  • Finding a cure for cancer is one of the biggest challenges facing medical researchers.
  • I've promised to finish the task by Friday, but it's going to be quite a challenge.
  • It could be a bit of a challenge getting the piano through the doorway.
Complicated and difficult to do
  • advanced
  • ambitious
  • ambitiously
  • another
  • arduous
  • fierce
  • find something heavy going
  • formidable
  • formidably
  • get blood out of/from a stone idiom
  • obstinate
  • obstinately
  • onerous
  • onerously
  • overdemanding
  • toughen
  • trickily
  • tricky
  • tuff
  • ultra-sensitive
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Difficult situations and unpleasant experiences

challenge noun (INVITATION)

[ C ] an invitation to compete or take part, especially in a game or argument: "I bet you can't eat all that food on your plate." "Is that a challenge?" [ + to infinitive ] She issued a challenge to her rival candidates to take part in a public debate.issue a challenge They plan to issue the challenge at a news conference today. [ C ] an invitation to do something difficult, funny, or embarrassing, especially on social media, often as a way of raising money for a good cause: The Ice Bucket Challenge, in which people filmed themselves being doused with icy water, raised awareness and over $100 million for the ALS Association.
  • He issued Tom with a challenge to come out and fight.
  • He thinks he can get to the top of the mountain quickest. That is his challenge to us.
Competing and contending (non-sporting)
  • as a dare
  • be in it to win it idiom
  • be one up on someone idiom
  • cat
  • challenge someone to something/do something
  • dare
  • give someone/something a run for their money idiom
  • go in for something phrasal verb
  • hot on someone's/something's heels idiom
  • hotly contested
  • hyper-competitive
  • jungle
  • pit
  • runners and riders idiom
  • scramble for something
  • sharp elbows idiom
  • sharp-elbowed
  • sharpen your elbows idiom
  • snap
  • toe
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Making appeals & requests

challenge noun (QUESTION)

C2 [ C or U ] asking if something is true or legal: pose a challenge The result of the vote poses a serious challenge to the government's credibility. Because of the way this research was conducted, its findings are open to challenge. Suspecting & questioning
  • ask questions of someone/something idiom
  • challengingly
  • cynic
  • cynical about someone/something
  • cynically
  • cynicism
  • doubt
  • interrogate
  • query
  • reservation
  • reserve
  • sceptic
  • sceptical
  • sceptically
  • scepticism
  • skeptical
  • skeptically
  • suspect
  • suspected
  • suspiciously
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challenge noun (INSTRUCTION)

[ C ] an instruction given by a soldier or guard at a border or gate, telling someone to stand still and say their name and reasons for being there The armed forces generally
  • absent without leave
  • anti-military
  • army
  • AWOL
  • CAO
  • casualty assistance officer
  • casualty notification officer
  • dog tag
  • echelon
  • French Foreign Legion
  • guard
  • non-military
  • outmarch
  • paramilitary
  • psych ops
  • quarter
  • quick march! idiom
  • the military-industrial complex
  • the National Guard
  • the SAS
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challenge noun (REFUSAL)

[ C ]   law   specialized the act of refusing to accept someone as a member of a jury: A challenge to a member of the jury should be made before the trial begins. Refusing & rejecting
  • abjuration
  • abnegate
  • abnegation
  • bar
  • bat something/someone away phrasal verb
  • nix
  • not hear of something phrasal verb
  • not on your life! idiom
  • oppositional
  • opt
  • pass on phrasal verb
  • rebel
  • refuse
  • regret
  • tear
  • vote
  • vote something down phrasal verb
  • wash your hands of something idiom
  • wild horses idiom
  • would not do something for all the tea in China idiom
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Judges & juries challengeverb [ T ] uk /ˈtʃæl.ɪndʒ/ us /ˈtʃæl.ɪndʒ/

challenge verb [T] (INVITE)

to invite someone to compete or take part, especially in a game or argument: challenge someone to something/do something Tina has challenged me to a game of poker. He played a tricky piece on the piano and then challenged me to do the same.
  • They challenged us to a game of football.
  • Can I challenge you to a game of chess?
Competing and contending (non-sporting)
  • as a dare
  • be in it to win it idiom
  • be one up on someone idiom
  • cat
  • challenge someone to something/do something
  • dare
  • give someone/something a run for their money idiom
  • go in for something phrasal verb
  • hot on someone's/something's heels idiom
  • hotly contested
  • hyper-competitive
  • jungle
  • pit
  • runners and riders idiom
  • scramble for something
  • sharp elbows idiom
  • sharp-elbowed
  • sharpen your elbows idiom
  • snap
  • toe
See more results »

challenge verb [T] (DOUBT)

B2 to question if something is true or legal: Children challenge their parents' authority far more nowadays than they did in the past.
  • It was courageous of her to challenge the managing director's decision.
  • Six journalists sought to challenge in court the legality of the ban on broadcasting.
  • UK Union representatives are planning to challenge New Labour policy at the party conference.
  • They did not dare to challenge the sacred cow of parliamentary democracy.
  • They challenged all our beliefs.
Suspecting & questioning
  • ask questions of someone/something idiom
  • challengingly
  • cynic
  • cynical about someone/something
  • cynically
  • cynicism
  • doubt
  • interrogate
  • query
  • reservation
  • reserve
  • sceptic
  • sceptical
  • sceptically
  • scepticism
  • skeptical
  • skeptically
  • suspect
  • suspected
  • suspiciously
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challenge verb [T] (TEST)

to test someone's ability or determination Making people excited and interested
  • absorbed
  • amp someone up phrasal verb
  • animate
  • arouse someone's curiosity
  • be someone's bag idiom
  • breathe
  • engage
  • interest someone in something phrasal verb
  • intoxicate
  • intrigue
  • light something up phrasal verb
  • occupy
  • stir
  • stretch
  • suspensive
  • sweep someone along phrasal verb
  • talk something up phrasal verb
  • tantalize
  • the Thames
  • whip
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challenge verb [T] (STOP)

to tell someone at a border or gate to stand still and say their name and reasons for being there Suspecting & questioning
  • ask questions of someone/something idiom
  • challengingly
  • cynic
  • cynical about someone/something
  • cynically
  • cynicism
  • doubt
  • interrogate
  • query
  • reservation
  • reserve
  • sceptic
  • sceptical
  • sceptically
  • scepticism
  • skeptical
  • skeptically
  • suspect
  • suspected
  • suspiciously
See more results »

challenge verb [T] (REFUSE TO ACCEPT)

law   specialized to refuse to accept someone as a member of a jury Refusing & rejecting
  • abjuration
  • abnegate
  • abnegation
  • bar
  • bat something/someone away phrasal verb
  • nix
  • not hear of something phrasal verb
  • not on your life! idiom
  • oppositional
  • opt
  • pass on phrasal verb
  • rebel
  • refuse
  • regret
  • tear
  • vote
  • vote something down phrasal verb
  • wash your hands of something idiom
  • wild horses idiom
  • would not do something for all the tea in China idiom
See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Judges & juries (Definition of challenge from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

challenge | American Dictionary

challengenoun us /ˈtʃæl·əndʒ/

challenge noun (DIFFICULT JOB)

Add to word list Add to word list [ C/U ] something needing great mental or physical effort in order to be done successfully, or the situation of facing this kind of effort: [ C ] It’s a challenge being in a marriage when both partners have high-pressure jobs. [ C ] No matter how long you write, poetry remains a challenge. [ C ] Germany faces broad challenges in the coming years.

challenge noun (EXPRESSION OF DOUBT)

[ C/U ] a questioning or expression of doubt about the truth or purpose of something, or the right of a person to have or do something: [ U ] Because of the way this research was done, its findings are open to challenge. [ C ] The president is clearly anticipating a new challenge to his authority.

challenge noun (COMPETITION)

[ C ] something that competes with you or is a threat: The governor barely survived a challenge from an unknown opponent in the primary.

challenging

adjective us /ˈtʃæl·ən·dʒɪŋ/ For a reporter, covering the White House is a challenging assignment. challengeverb [ T ] us /ˈtʃæl·əndʒ/

challenge verb [T] (ASK TO COMPETE)

to invite someone to take part in a competition: The other candidates challenged the president to take part in a debate.

challenge verb [T] (PRESENT A DIFFICULT TEST)

to present tasks to someone that need great mental or physical effort in order to be done successfully: It’s easy enough to crank out college graduates, but a good education should really challenge them.

challenge verb [T] (EXPRESS DOUBT)

to express or represent doubt about the truth of something: Advanced computers challenge long-held notions about intelligence and thought. (Definition of challenge from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

challenge | Business English

challengenoun uk /ˈtʃælɪndʒ/ us Add to word list Add to word list [ C or U ] a job, duty, or situation that is difficult because you must use a lot of effort, determination, and skill in order to be successful: accept/face/meet a challenge After significant losses last year, the company now faces the challenge of trying to repair its reputation with investors.be/pose/present a challenge The weakness of the dollar could pose a challenge to the company's expansion plans. As a software developer he enjoys the challenge of working with cutting-edge technology. She was getting bored at work and felt she needed a new challenge. Finding time to do the work has proven a real challenge. a big/major/serious challenge [ C ] an invitation for someone to compete against you or for you to prove that you can achieve a particular goal: challenge from sb Responding to a challenge from dissident shareholders, the board approved a number of steps to enhance shareholder value. [ C ] an act of asking whether something is true or legal, or whether someone has the authority or right to do something: mount/launch a challenge against Unions are planning to launch a legal challenge against the airline for changing the work schedules of 14,000 cabin crew. challengeverb [ T ] uk /ˈtʃælɪndʒ/ us to officially question whether something is true or legal, or whether someone has the authority or right to do something: Keep copies of all written correspondence to support your case if the company later challenges you for further payment. Corporate lawyers challenged the ban, but the court upheld it last year. to compete against someone or ask them to prove that they can achieve a particular goal: challenge sb to do sth Consumers are challenging manufacturers to adopt greener policies. to encourage someone to increase their skills, determination, abilities, etc. by making them do something new or difficult: People are just looking for jobs that will challenge and inspire them. to cause difficulties for someone or something: Local businesses have been greatly challenged by the recession. (Definition of challenge from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of challenge

challenge This ordinance is challenged by a landlord who has no plans for conversion. From the Cambridge English Corpus Attempting to write a global geographical perspective on organic agriculture is a major challenge. From the Cambridge English Corpus The common challenge physiologists, philosophical psychologists, and also physicists set themselves in that period was that of making invisible forces visible. From the Cambridge English Corpus A future challenge for the authors will be to explain how changes in the model's parameters embody changes in these fundamental psychological processes. From the Cambridge English Corpus In other words, in refusing to attribute any role to crime, these studies are forced into the same zero-sum framework they attempt to challenge. From the Cambridge English Corpus We therefore suggest that the encoding of discrete category representations be added as a fifth challenge for cognitive neuroscience. From the Cambridge English Corpus A challenge in responding to such requests is in determining the comparative benefits and risks of different stem cell transplant methods. From the Cambridge English Corpus Opposition parties lack an independent material base to effectively challenge the regime. From the Cambridge English Corpus However, on the other hand, certifying that a random k-tuple system has low discrepancy seems to be an algorithmic challenge. From the Cambridge English Corpus This paper addresses the technical challenges of implementing a producibility analysis tool. From the Cambridge English Corpus The challenge has come from what was supposed to be the heart of the mechanistic world view - from physics. From the Cambridge English Corpus Countries are facing this challenge in many different ways, but one common factor is the increasing reliance on electronics and systems. From the Cambridge English Corpus Section 2 begins with an overview of the theoretical challenge, and then presents a category-theoretic framework for deriving transition systems. From the Cambridge English Corpus As with literature, a considerable theoretical challenge exists in relating the subjective to the intersubjective. From the Cambridge English Corpus Creating culturally relevant ways of thinking about diversity and aging : theoretical challenges for the twenty-first century. From the Cambridge English Corpus These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with challenge

challenge

These are words often used in combination with challenge.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

big challengeHowever, digital image analysis of three-dimensional data sets still represents a big challenge. From the Cambridge English Corpus considerable challengeMusic represents a considerable challenge for visualisation, because it has many attributes which change over time and the relationships between these attributes are complex. From the Cambridge English Corpus constitutional challengeAn "as-applied" challenge, on one usage, is any constitutional challenge that seeks to vindicate the personal rights of the claimants. 35. From the Cambridge English Corpus These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. See all collocations with challenge What is the pronunciation of challenge?

Translations of challenge

in Chinese (Traditional) 棘手的工作, 挑戰, 難題… See more in Chinese (Simplified) 棘手的工作, 挑战, 难题… See more in Spanish reto, desafio, desafío… See more in Portuguese desafio, desafiar, pôr em dúvida… See more in Marathi in Japanese in Turkish in French in Catalan in Dutch in Tamil in Hindi in Gujarati in Danish in Swedish in Malay in German in Norwegian in Urdu in Ukrainian in Telugu in Bengali in Czech in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Korean in Italian (सामोरे जाण्याची परिस्थिती) एखादी गोष्ट जी यशस्वीरित्या करण्यासाठी मोठ्या मानसिक किंवा शारीरिक प्रयत्नांची आवश्यकता असते आणि म्हणूनच एखाद्या व्यक्तीच्या क्षमतेची चाचणी घेते, आव्हान, खरे किंवा कायदेशीर आहे का याची विचारणा करणे… See more チャレンジ, 挑戦, ～に異議を唱える… See more birinin yetenek ve kararlılığını ölçen şey, durum, meydan okuma… See more défi [masculine], contestation [feminine], contester… See more repte, desafiament, qüestionar… See more uitdagen, betwisten, uitdaging… See more (எதிர்கொள்ளும் சூழ்நிலை) வெற்றிகரமாக செய்யப்படுவதற்கு மிகுந்த மன அல்லது உடல் முயற்சி தேவைப்படும் ஒன்று, எனவே ஒரு நபரின் திறனை சோதிக்கிறது, ஏதாவது உண்மையா அல்லது சட்டப்பூர்வமானதா என்று கேட்பது… See more चुनौती, चुनौती देना… See more પડકાર, પ્રશ્ન ઉઠાવવો, પડકારો… See more udfordre, anfægte, protestere mod… See more utmana, bestrida, protestera mot… See more cabar, soal, cabaran… See more herausfordern, anzweifeln, die Herausforderung… See more utfordring [masculine], innvending [masculine], motsigelse [masculine]… See more چیلنج, مقابلہ, دعوت مبازرت… See more кидати виклик, викликати, оспорювати… See more కష్టం, విజయవంతంగా పూర్తి చేయడానికి గొప్ప మానసిక లేక శారీరక శ్రమ అవసరం కాబట్టి ఒక వ్యక్తి యొక్క సామర్థ్యాన్ని పరీక్షిస్తుంది, ఏదైనా నిజమా లేక చట్టబద్ధమైనదా అని అడగడం… See more চ্যালেঞ্জ, প্রতিদ্বন্দ্বিতায় আহ্বান, চ্যালেঞ্জ করা… See more vyzvat, pochybovat, výzva… See more menantang, mempertanyakan, tantangan… See more ท้าทาย, เรียกร้อง, การท้าทาย… See more thách thức, thẩm tra, lời mời tham gia cuộc thi… See more wyzwanie, kwestionowanie, kwestionować… See more 도전, (경쟁, 시합의) 도전… See more sfida, contestare, mettere in dubbio… See more Need a translator?

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chalkiness chalking chalky challah challenge challenge flag challenge someone to something/do something challenged challenger {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}}

More meanings of challenge

  • challenge flag
  • face a challenge
  • X-rated challenge
  • rise to the challenge
  • challenge someone to something/do something
  • two-footed challenge, at two-footed tackle
  • rise to the occasion/challenge idiom
See all meanings
  • rise to the occasion/challenge idiom

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agony aunt

UK /ˈæɡ.ə.ni ˌɑːnt/ US /ˈæɡ.ə.ni ˌænt/

a person, usually a woman, who gives advice to people with personal problems, especially in a regular magazine or newspaper article

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  • English   
    • Noun 
      • challenge (DIFFICULT JOB)
      • challenge (INVITATION)
      • challenge (QUESTION)
      • challenge (INSTRUCTION)
      • challenge (REFUSAL)
    • Verb 
      • challenge (INVITE)
      • challenge (DOUBT)
      • challenge (TEST)
      • challenge (STOP)
      • challenge (REFUSE TO ACCEPT)
  • American   
    • Noun 
      • challenge (DIFFICULT JOB)
      • challenge (EXPRESSION OF DOUBT)
      • challenge (COMPETITION)
    • Adjective 
      • challenging
    • Verb 
      • challenge (ASK TO COMPETE)
      • challenge (PRESENT A DIFFICULT TEST)
      • challenge (EXPRESS DOUBT)
  • Business   NounVerb
  • Examples
  • Collocations
  • Translations
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Tag » How Do You Spell Challenge