spelling contest vs spelling bee

spelling contest and spelling bee both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
spelling contest	Yes	No	No	No
spelling bee	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, spelling contest and spelling bee are synonyms defined as:

spelling contest and spelling bee: a contest in which you are eliminated if you fail to spell a word correctly

Other synonyms of spelling contest include spelldown.

spelling contest (noun)	spelling bee (noun)
a contest in which you are eliminated if you fail to spell a word correctly	a contest in which you are eliminated if you fail to spell a word correctly