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One fitted for, or skilled in, intellectual contests; as, athletes of debate.

loq.] -- To back out, To back down, to retreat or withdraw from a promise, engagement, or contest; to recede. [Colloq.] Cleon at first . . . was willing to go; but, finding that he [Nicias] was in earnest, he tried to back out. Jowett (Thucyd. )

One who, or that which, backs; especially one who backs a person or thing in a contest.

A game, usually played indoors, in which two parties of players contest with each other to toss a large inflated ball into opposite goals resembling baskets.

A struggle; a contest; as, the battle of life. The whole intellectual battle that had at its center the best poem of the best poet of that day. H. Morley.

To overcome in a battle, contest, strife, race, game, etc.; to vanquish or conquer; to surpass. He beat them in a bloody battle. Prescott. For loveliness, it would be hard to beat that. M. Arnold.

That which is laid, staked, or pledged, as between two parties, upon the event of a contest or any contingent issue; the act of giving such a pledge; a wager. "Having made his bets." Goldsmith.

One who assists or supports another in a contest; an abettor; a backer. [Colloq.] Lord Palmerston considered himself the bottleholder of oppressed states. The London Times.

A conflict; contest; attempt; trial; a set-to at anything; as, a fencing bout; a drinking bout. The gentleman will, for his honor's sake, have one bout with you; he can not by the duello avoid it. Shak.

To clamor; to contest noisily. [R.]

A wrangle; a squabble; a noisy contest or dispute. [R.] A brangle between him and his neighbor. Swift.

A short contest, or trial, of speed. Let us enjoy a brush across the country. Cornhill Mag. Electrical brush, a form of the electric discharge characterized by a brushlike appearance of luminous rays diverging from an electrified body.

To enter upon some labor or contest; to join in close fight; to struggle; to contend. The bishop was as able and ready to buckle with the Lord Protector as he was with him. Latimer. In single combat thou shalt buckle with me. Shak. To buckle to, to bend to; to engage with zeal. To make our sturdy humor buckle thereto.…

e who offers himself, or is put forward by others, as a suitable person or an aspirant or contestant for an office, privilege, or honor; as, a candidate for the office of governor; a candidate for holy orders; a candidate for scholastic honors.

To match; to mate in contest; to furnish a complement to; as, to cap text; to cap proverbs. Shak. Now I have him under girdle I'll cap verses with him to the end of the chapter. Dryden.

ld successfully through conflict, as a leader or principle; hence, to succeed in, as in a contest; to bring to a successful issue; to win; as, to carry an election. "The greater part carries it." Shak. The carrying of our main point. Addison.

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. A challenge to controversy. Goldsmith.

One who engages in any contest; esp. one who in ancient times contended in single combat in behalf of another's honor or rights; or one who acts or speaks in behalf of a person or a cause; a defender; an advocate; a hero. A stouter champion never handled sword. Shak. Champions of law and liberty. Fisher Ames.…

I wonder Shak. To be with child, to be pregnant. -- Child's play, light work; a trifling contest.

To grapple; to engange in hand-to-hand fight. They boldly closed in a hand-to-hand contest. Prescott. To close on or upon, to come to a mutual agreement; to agree on or join in. "Would induce France and Holland to close upon some measures between them to our disadvantage." Sir W. Temple. -- To close with. (a) To acced…