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

It isn’t the only dispute between the two companies, however.

From The Wall Street Journal

He said he would not be dismissing the case over the dispute.

From BBC

Martin Bertao, president of College Republicans of America, said the organization deplores antisemitism and disputed the membership of the young man appearing to salute in the photo.

From The Wall Street Journal

Yet the announcement is “unfortunate” given the recent resolution of prior disputes with the government, “which we hoped would allow investors to consider a potential overhang as being ‘resolved’,” Hissey says.

From The Wall Street Journal

At the heart of the dispute is a fundamental question that is essential to the health of any professional sports business: Is baseball fair?

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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