challenge vs eristic

challenge

noun
  • An antagonization or instigation intended to convince a person to perform an action they otherwise would not. 

  • The act of appealing a ruling or decision of a court of administrative agency. 

  • A bid to overcome something. 

  • The act of seeking to remove a judge, arbitrator, or other judicial or semi-judicial figure for reasons of alleged bias or incapacity. 

  • An act of seeking to have a certain person be declared not legally qualified to vote, made when the person offers their ballot. 

  • The act of a sentry in halting a person and demanding the countersign, or (by extension) the action of a computer system demanding a password, etc. 

  • A summons to fight a duel; also, the letter or message conveying the summons. 

  • A difficult task, especially one that the person making the attempt finds more enjoyable because of that difficulty. 

  • An attempt to take possession; a tackle. 

  • An attempt to have a work of literature restricted or removed from a public library or school curriculum. 

  • The opening and crying of hounds upon first finding the scent of their game. 

  • A judge's interest in the result of a case, constituting grounds for them to not be allowed to sit the case (e.g., a conflict of interest). 

verb
  • To question or demand the countersign from (one who attempts to pass the lines). 

  • To dare (someone). 

  • To invite (someone) to take part in a competition. 

  • To be difficult or challenging for. 

  • To call something into question or dispute. 

  • To object to the reception of the vote of, e.g. on the ground that the person is not qualified as a voter. 

  • To take (a final exam) in order to get credit for a course without taking it. 

  • To make a formal objection to a juror. 

  • To dispute (something). 

eristic

noun
  • A type of dialogue or argument where the participants do not have any reasonable goal. The aim is to argue for the sake of conflict, and often to see who can yell the loudest. 

  • One who makes specious arguments; one who is disputatious. 

adj
  • Provoking strife, controversy or discord. 

How often have the words challenge and eristic occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )