cliffhanger vs contest

cliffhanger and contest both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
cliffhanger	Yes	No	No	No
contest	Yes	No	Yes	No

As nouns, contest is a hypernym of cliffhanger; that is, contest is a word with a broader meaning than cliffhanger:

cliffhanger: a contest whose outcome is uncertain up to the very end
contest: an occasion on which a winner is selected from among two or more contestants

Other hypernyms of cliffhanger include competition.

cliffhanger (noun)	contest (noun)
an episode that ends in suspense	a struggle between rivals
a contest whose outcome is uncertain up to the very end	an occasion on which a winner is selected from among two or more contestants

cliffhanger (verb)	contest (verb)
	to make the subject of dispute, contention, or litigation