The phrase "a big contest" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a competition that is significant in size, importance, or scale.
Example: "The annual science fair is a big contest that attracts participants from all over the region."
Alternatives: "a large competition" or "a major contest".
They can single-handedly win you a big contest.
Four years earlier, without the energy of a big contest, the Democrats attracted 5 percent, the Republicans 4 percent.
There was a big contest up the coast and some of them came to see the show.
"When my guys tell you it costs more than $25,000 to get ready for a big contest, you think they're talking about pasta?
The problem is, after Illinois, there really isn't a big contest where Romney is running as favorite but faces a reasonable possibility of being defeated.
He is a humble but ambitious squire in medieval days who seizes his moment of destiny when his knight keels over and dies just before a big contest.
He reckons that by meddling in Macedonian church politics, Serbia's authorities both political and religious are gearing up for a bigger contest in Montenegro, where a vote on independence may be held next year.Bishop Naum may be exaggerating the tension in Montenegro, but his suspicions are not wholly absurd.
This isn't simply because Texans are an inherently criminal bunch – although of course they are – but rather because, in addition to prosecuting actual crimes against property and persons, the federal government is also in a great big contest with the Chinese to see who can imprison the most people for bullshit non-crimes like selling drugs.
Sunday's game will be a clash of the two Americas, a precursor to the big contest in November for the future of the country.
The athletes needed places to train, events in which to test their training, and experienced observers around to make sure they didn't invite injury, exhaust themselves or pass their level of peak fitness a week before the big contest.
The top story in The Tallahassee Democrat, the day after a dizzying, history-making day in that other big contest, carried a dignified banner headline: "Weinke credits Heisman win to experience".
