challenge

American  

[chal-inj] / ˈtʃæl ɪndʒ /

noun

challenges plural

1. a call or summons to engage in any contest, as of skill, strength, etc.

2. something that by its nature or character serves as a call to battle, contest, special effort, etc..

   Space exploration offers a challenge to humankind.

3. a call to fight, as a battle, a duel, etc.

4. a demand to explain, justify, etc..

   a challenge to the treasurer to itemize expenditures.

5. difficulty in a job or undertaking that is stimulating to one engaged in it.

6. Military. the demand of a sentry for identification or a countersign.

7. Law. a formal objection to the qualifications of a particular juror, to that juror serving, or to the legality of an entire jury.

8. the assertion that a vote is invalid or that a voter is not legally qualified.

9. Biology. the process of inducing or assessing physiological or immunological activity by exposing an organism to a specific substance.

10. Hunting. the crying of a hound on finding a scent.

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verb (used with object)

challenges, present (3rd person singular) challenged, past participle, past challenging present participle

1. to summon to a contest of skill, strength, etc.

   Synonyms:

   invite, bid, dare

2. to take exception to; call in question.

   to challenge the wisdom of a procedure.

   Synonyms:

   doubt, impute, question

3. to demand as something due or rightful.

4. Military. to halt and demand identification or countersign from.

5. Law. to take formal exception to (a juror or jury).

6. to have a claim to; invite; arouse; stimulate.

   a matter which challenges attention.

7. to assert that (a vote) is invalid.

8. to assert that (a voter) is not qualified to vote.

9. to expose an organism to a specific substance in order to assess its physiological or immunological activity.

10. Archaic. to lay claim to.

verb (used without object)

challenges, present (3rd person singular) challenged, past participle, past challenging present participle

1. to make or issue a challenge.

2. Hunting. (of hounds) to cry or give tongue on picking up the scent.

adjective

1. donated or given by a private, corporate, or government benefactor on condition that the recipient raise an additional specified amount from the public.

   a challenge grant.

challenge British  

/ ˈtʃælɪndʒ /

verb

1. to invite or summon (someone to do something, esp to take part in a contest)

2. (also intr) to call (something) into question; dispute

3. to make demands on; stimulate

   the job challenges his ingenuity

4. to order (a person) to halt and be identified or to give a password

5. law to make formal objection to (a juror or jury)

6. to lay claim to (attention, etc)

7. (intr) hunting (of a hound) to cry out on first encountering the scent of a quarry

8. to inject (an experimental animal immunized with a test substance) with disease microorganisms to test for immunity to the disease

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noun

1. a call to engage in a fight, argument, or contest

2. a questioning of a statement or fact; a demand for justification or explanation

3. a demanding or stimulating situation, career, object, etc

4. a demand by a sentry, watchman, etc, for identification or a password

5. an assertion that a person is not entitled to vote or that a vote is invalid

6. law a formal objection to a person selected to serve on a jury ( challenge to the polls ) or to the whole body of jurors ( challenge to the array )

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• challenger
  noun
• prechallenge
  verb (used with object)
• rechallenge
  verb (used with object)
• challengeable
  adjective
• unchallengeable
  adjective
• unchallengeably
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• challenges
  plural

Participles

• challenging
  present
• challenged
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• challenge
  simple
• challenges
  simple
• have challenged
  perfect
• has challenged
  perfect
• am challenging
  progressive
• are challenging
  progressive
• is challenging
  progressive
• have been challenging
  perfect progressive
• has been challenging
  perfect progressive

Past

• challenged
  simple
• had challenged
  perfect
• was challenging
  progressive
• were challenging
  progressive
• had been challenging
  perfect progressive

Future

• will challenge
  simple
• will have challenged
  perfect
• will be challenging
  progressive
• will have been challenging
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of challenge

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English chalenge, from Old French, variant of chalonge, from Latin calumnia “false statement”; see calumny

Explanation

A challenge is something that puts you to the test — like running your first marathon or reading War and Peace. Challenge, as a verb, is derived from a Latin word meaning "to accuse falsely," and it is still used much as it was in the 13th century, in the sense of questioning whether something is true or right. Students sometimes challenge a weeknight curfew, and lawyers might challenge the evidence submitted by the other side in a lawsuit. Challenge is also used as a noun for a competition in which people challenge one another to prove that they’re the best at something.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

challenge challenges challenged challenging

The second challenge, more daunting in the digital era, is defining who is a journalist.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

Discovery to battle a stiffer-than-anticipated antitrust challenge from California Atty.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

He warned that unmanaged cross-border movement could undermine security and social order, and said no country could address the challenge alone.

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

Universities UK acknowledged antisemitism is a growing challenge.

From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026

“It’s getting steeper, wouldn’t you say?” asked Duane, excited at this new challenge.

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el

"These events are a stark reminder of the challenges posed by an increasingly extreme climate and the importance of protecting both people and nature."

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

But some are prone to ludicrous circumlocutions like “Johnny faces challenges in the lived experience of interactions with his peer group in educational spaces,” instead of “Johnny doesn’t get along with his classmates.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

The starkest contrast between two summertime TV hits about women navigating midlife’s challenges shows up in the way its leading ladies handle themselves in the kitchen.

From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026

For Ambrositsch and Keller, the key to survival lies in navigating those challenges while refreshing the age-old formula.

From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026

These special challenges served to make African American women leaders more determined than ever to pursue their cause.

From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler

Along with Minneapolis and St. Paul, it challenged Operation Metro Surge by arguing that the federal government had disrupted schools, businesses, emergency services, municipal resources, streets, and the trust on which local governance depends.

From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026

The results directly challenged the idea that SuperAgers are protected simply because they carry fewer Alzheimer's related risk variants.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026

The dominant biases of scholarship—Western, Christian, English—could be challenged from every corner of the globe.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

The newspaper had challenged the government requests for phone records of reporters and grand jury testimony as an attempt to "intimidate" the press and filed a motion to have them quashed.

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026

Then Susan challenged, “I bet you can’t do it on the beam.”

From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles

The backing by Nvidia would enable SoftBank to raise debt on more favorable terms, the Journal noted, which would otherwise be challenging given how S&P Global has flagged OpenAI as a key credit risk.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026

The blockade and the attacks forced more Saudi barrels onto a longer, costlier and technically challenging journey through Egypt’s Suez Canal and around Africa.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

Because dreams are highly personal and often difficult to describe, they have traditionally been challenging to investigate on a large scale.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026

She said she acted with board approval and spent school money on kids and for staff development and incentives to retain valued personnel in a challenging inner-city environment.

From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026

When this is easy, move on to more challenging keys and larger intervals.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

Related Words

• ask for
• assert
• call for
• claim
• confront
• defy
• demand
• denounce
• impose
• require
• test
• try