dispute

American  

[dih-spyoot] / dɪˈspyut /

verb (used without object)

disputed, disputing

1. to engage in argument or debate.

   She liked nothing more than to dispute with her fellow law students.

2. to argue vehemently; wrangle or quarrel.

   Those two are always disputing about something or other.

   Synonyms:

   squabble, bicker

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verb (used with object)

disputed, disputing

1. to argue or debate about; discuss.

   Whether excessive time spent on the internet can be called an addiction is hotly disputed.

2. to argue against; call into question.

   Historians dispute this claim, suggesting Raleigh could not possibly have discovered the potato in the places he visited.

3. to quarrel or fight about; contest.

   We stopped to watch a puffed-up crow disputing territory with a cat.

4. Archaic. to strive against; oppose.

   to dispute an advance of troops.

noun

1. a debate, controversy, or difference of opinion.

   Players were elated when the equal pay dispute was finally resolved.

2. a wrangling argument; quarrel.

   Some women at the end of the bar were having a noisy dispute about who should be the designated driver.

   Synonyms:

   bickering, squabble, wrangle, altercation, disputation

idioms

1. in dispute,

   1. being fought or argued over; debated or contested; unresolved.

      The authorship of the recently discovered text is in dispute.

      Both countries argue that the territories in dispute originally belonged to them.

   2. engaged in an argument or disagreement.

      The program enables parties in dispute to settle their differences over the internet without face-to-face mediation.

dispute British  

verb

1. to argue, debate, or quarrel about (something)

2. (tr; may take a clause as object) to doubt the validity, etc, of

3. (tr) to seek to win; contest for

4. (tr) to struggle against; resist

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noun

1. an argument or quarrel

dispute More Idioms  

1. see in dispute.

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Related Words

See argument.

Other Word Forms

• disputeless adjective
• disputer noun
• predispute noun
• redispute verb
• undisputing adjective

Etymology

Origin of dispute

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English verb disputen, dispuiten, desputen, either from Anglo-French, Old French desputer or directly from Latin disputāre “to argue a point,” equivalent to dis- dis- ¹ + putāre “to reckon, consider”; noun derivative of the verb; putative

Example Sentences

Tooson did not dispute that his client was in possession of a rifle.

From Los Angeles Times

Speaking to local media, Youngblood said he had no one who could arraign the supervisor within a limited time frame, but Kern County prosecutors dispute that.

From Los Angeles Times

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey disputed Noem’s description of events leading up to the shooting.

From Los Angeles Times

The war came as the relationship between India and China had been souring over border tensions and meetings to resolve the disputes had been unsuccessful.

From BBC

But witnesses and video disputed some aspects of the official account.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bickering
• brawl
• conflict
• controversy
• debate
• disagreement
• discord
• discussion
• disturbance
• feud
• friction
• misunderstanding
• quarrel
• row
• squabble
• strife
• wrangle