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spelldown

American  
[spel-doun] / ˈspɛlˌdaʊn /

noun

  1. a spelling competition that begins with all the contestants standing and that ends when all but one, the winner, have been required to sit down due to a specified number of misspellings.

Etymology

Origin of spelldown

1940–45, from phrase spell down to outspell others in a spelling match

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The 281 kids gathered for the bee socialize outside their cutthroat spelldown.

From Time

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.