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

This is because the court took the case in a pre-enforcement posture, before Colorado ever enforced its ban in an actual dispute involving concrete facts and real people who suffered through the “conversion” process.

From Slate • Apr. 3, 2026

At the same time, Lively has framed the dispute as a test case for California’s relatively new law protecting people who speak publicly about sexual misconduct.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 2, 2026

The diplomatic dispute arises from the ambiguous role that Rwanda, best known to many Americans for the 1994 genocide, now plays as a regional strongman.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

Patients in greater Lincolnshire are being warned of cancelled appointments when hospital doctors go on strike for six days in a pay dispute.

From BBC • Apr. 1, 2026

Arnauld’s preoccupation with the fact developed out of the great dispute over whether Jansenism, of which Arnauld was the leading light, was heretical.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

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