Phrase guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
No pronunciation record was provided for this word.
noun
A spelling contest or competition where contestants, usually children, are asked to spell out words (orally, letter by letter); the individual or team spelling the most words correctly wins.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
a contest in which you are eliminated if you fail to spell a word correctly
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: spelldown, spelling contest
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: contest, competition
History
From spelling + bee (“get-together, (social) gathering, contest”). (The earliest known evidence of the phrase in print dates back to 1850.)
Across languages
8 source translations are retained for this English entry.
