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 books at issue include Mark Clifford’s biography of Jimmy Lai, the 78-year-old journalist sentenced last month to 20 years in prison for dissent.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
But there is a trade-off between the amount of money at issue here and the time and grief trying to get reimbursed could cause you.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 20, 2026
Those tariffs—including others threatened under IEEPA, representing about $130 billion in revenue—are at issue in the Supreme Court ruling investors have been awaiting.
From Barron's • Feb. 19, 2026
“More factual development is necessary and it may be that the only government action at issue is termination of grants for which I have no jurisdiction to review,” Shah wrote.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 12, 2026
The perpetrators of all this, as Mrs. Heine has taken pains to point out, are no longer among us, so their culpability is not at issue.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
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.
