at issue
Idioms-
In question, under discussion; also, to be decided. For example, Who will pay for the refreshments was the point at issue . [Early 1800s]
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In conflict, in disagreement, as in Physicians are still at issue over the appropriate use of hormone therapy . This usage, from legal terminology, was defined by Sir William Blackstone ( Commentaries on the Laws of England , 1768), who said that when a point is affirmed by one side and denied by the other, “they are then said to be at issue .”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Associated Press reported that the agreement “does not include an admission of fault or liability but says the county has ended the program at issue and has no intention of reactivating it.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
It added that the model behaviour at issue amounted to "a small number of events under very specific conditions".
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
Also at issue is that Altman continues to own no equity in the company.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
“Those trusts, and Nick’s interest in them, are not at issue here,” the petition reads.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
Many boys were pledged or even married in their early teens, and some, where the uniting of high-class families was at issue, to older girls.
From "Tiger, Tiger" by Lynne Reid Banks
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.