dispute

[ dih-spyoot ]

/ dɪˈspyut /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for: dispute / disputed / disputing / disputer on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object), dis·put·ed, dis·put·ing.

to engage in argument or debate: She liked nothing more than to dispute with her fellow law students.

to argue vehemently; wrangle or quarrel: Those two are always disputing about something or other.

verb (used with object), dis·put·ed, dis·put·ing.

to argue or debate about; discuss: Whether excessive time spent on the internet can be called an addiction is hotly disputed.

to argue against; call into question: Historians dispute this claim, suggesting Raleigh could not possibly have discovered the potato in the places he visited.

to quarrel or fight about; contest: We stopped to watch a puffed-up crow disputing territory with a cat.

Archaic. to strive against; oppose: to dispute an advance of troops.

noun

a debate, controversy, or difference of opinion: Players were elated when the equal pay dispute was finally resolved.

a wrangling argument; quarrel: Some women at the end of the bar were having a noisy dispute about who should be the designated driver.

OTHER WORDS FOR dispute

2 bicker, squabble.

8 disputation, altercation, wrangle, squabble; bickering.

See synonyms for dispute on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Idioms about dispute

in dispute,

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.
engaged in an argument or disagreement: The program enables parties in dispute to settle their differences over the internet without face-to-face mediation.

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

synonym study for dispute

8. See argument.

OTHER WORDS FROM dispute

dis·pute·less, adjectivedis·put·er, nounpre·dis·pute, noun, verb, pre·dis·put·ed, pre·dis·put·ing.re·dis·pute, verb, re·dis·put·ed, re·dis·put·ing.

un·dis·put·ing, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH dispute

dispute , refute

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use dispute in a sentence

A multipolar world with clashing economic systems is producing more trade disputes, tariffs, and uncertainty.
Why investing in supply chain resilience pays off|lbelanger225|November 16, 2020|Fortune
Four people were shot at a lounge bar because of a dispute between two groups of people.
Southern Maryland crime report||November 11, 2020|Washington Post
“We knew we would be under a microscope from day one,” said Peter Antonacci, the election supervisor in Florida’s Broward County, where disputes over signatures on mail ballots in 2018 led to recounts and a slew of lawsuits.
‘We will not allow anyone to stop us’: Day and night, under historic scrutiny, the nation’s vote counters carried on|Amy Gardner, Reis Thebault, Hannah Knowles, Michelle Lee|November 9, 2020|Washington Post
A woman in a third vehicle, who was unaffiliated with either of the vehicles involved in the dispute, was struck by a bullet, he said.
Bystander caught in crossfire and wounded in Baileys Crossroads early Sunday|Meagan Flynn|November 8, 2020|Washington Post

Republicans still challenged results in 11 states and kept the dispute going for months, but the only result was Nixon losing Hawaii to Kennedy.
Follow along as battleground states tally presidential votes|John Kennedy|November 5, 2020|Popular-Science
There is no disputing that sometimes life takes a dramatic change.
Rediscovering Richard Dawkins: An Interview|J.P. O’Malley|September 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST
There was still no disputing the answer Bloomberg furnished to the question he then posed.
Alphonza Bryant, the Slain Bronx Teen Who Did Everything Right|Michael Daly|May 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST
They view the tax people as disputing whether what they're doing is real work.
The Taxman Cometh|Megan McArdle|April 30, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Had the gifts to Edwards bought yard signs or radio advertising, there'd be no disputing their campaign purpose.
The Dismaying Edwards Decision|David Frum|June 1, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Andrew Sullivan posted a letter today from a reader disputing the oft-heard statistic of 20 million Rush Limbaugh listeners.
20 Million Limbaugh Listeners? Hardly.|David Frum|March 6, 2012|DAILY BEAST
It would be like opening the windows upon a stuffy, overcrowded and unventilated room of disputing people.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
He sets out, and on his journey finds a lion, a wolf, and a falcon disputing over the carcase of a horse.
The Three Days' Tournament|Jessie L. Weston
It tried to follow him beyond the grave, disputing his right to make a will and denying him burial in consecrated ground.
Gospel Philosophy|J. H. Ward
Considering the uncertainty in which we are left by both text and commentary, the best we can do is to adore without disputing.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 1 (of 10)|Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)
If without witness and bonds he has given on deposit, and where he has deposited they keep disputing him, this case has no remedy.
The Oldest Code of Laws in the World|Hammurabi, King of Babylon

British Dictionary definitions for dispute

dispute

verb (dɪˈspjuːt)

to argue, debate, or quarrel about (something)

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

(tr) to seek to win; contest for

(tr) to struggle against; resist

noun (dɪˈspjuːt, ˈdɪspjuːt)

an argument or quarrel

Derived forms of dispute

disputer, noun

Word Origin for dispute

C13: from Late Latin disputāre to contend verbally, from Latin: to discuss, from dis- 1 + putāre to think

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with dispute

dispute

see in dispute.

dispute

OTHER WORDS FOR dispute

Idioms about dispute

Origin of dispute

synonym study for dispute

OTHER WORDS FROM dispute

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH dispute

Words related to dispute

How to use dispute in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for dispute

Derived forms of dispute

Word Origin for dispute

Other Idioms and Phrases with dispute