dispute

American  

[dih-spyoot] / dɪˈspjut /

verb (used without object)

disputes, present (3rd person singular) disputed, past participle, past disputing present participle

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)

disputes, present (3rd person singular) disputed, past participle, past disputing present participle

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

disputes plural

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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Synonym Usage

See argument.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• disputes
  plural

Participles

• disputing
  present
• disputed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• dispute
  simple
• disputes
  simple
• have disputed
  perfect
• has disputed
  perfect
• am disputing
  progressive
• are disputing
  progressive
• is disputing
  progressive
• have been disputing
  perfect progressive
• has been disputing
  perfect progressive

Past

• disputed
  simple
• had disputed
  perfect
• was disputing
  progressive
• were disputing
  progressive
• had been disputing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will dispute
  simple
• will have disputed
  perfect
• will be disputing
  progressive
• will have been disputing
  perfect progressive

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; see putative

Explanation

If kids can't settle their own argument, they may need someone to mediate their dispute, or conflict. You can often tell this is the case if you hear the loud cry, "Mom!" The noun dispute means any conflict or disagreement. The countries were in the middle of a border dispute; both sides claimed the toxic waste dump belonged to the other. As a verb, dispute can mean to quarrel or argue, but it can also mean to take exception to something. If your boasting friend crows because you lost the trivia game to her by 150 points, you may want to dispute the facts. It was only 145 points.

Example Sentences

ICE did not dispute Nguyen's allegations, and insisted in a statement to AFP that third-country agreements "are essential to the safety of our homeland and the American people."

From Barron's • Jul. 7, 2026

The message was clear: That which you buy digitally, you don’t really own, because a random boardroom dispute or expired contract could mean that those files are pulled without warning.

From Slate • Jul. 7, 2026

Seven months later, in a June interview with the Journal, Allbritton said the church had asked him to involve Uthmeier in the street dispute.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 7, 2026

The festival did not publicly link the withdrawal to the certification dispute.

From BBC • Jul. 6, 2026

From the beginning, it became obvious that what would become known as the Great Steel Strike of 1919 was much more than simply a labor dispute between workers and owners.

From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler

Related Words

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