dispute
verb (used without object)
to engage in argument or debate.
had been disputing
-
past perfect progressiveof dispute.past perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The CMS system had added the outstanding amount, and some arrears he had been disputing, to his continuing payments to come up with the new figure.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
The lawsuit prompted residents to reach out to tribal members from the Fort Mojave and Chemehuevi reservations who had been disputing a separate development in nearby Ivanpah Valley.
From New York Times ● Jan. 24, 2023
Her husband had been disputing emergency room charges when the hospital sued; the case was resolved and dismissed.
From New York Times ● Sep. 3, 2019
Possibly, too, they had been disputing as to whose office was the menial task of presenting the basin for foot-washing.
From Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Luke by Alexander Maclaren
The Thomists and the Scotists, together called the Ancients, had been disputing at Paris for half a century with the Terminists, or Moderns, the followers of Ockam and Buridan.
From Erasmus and the Age of Reformation by Johan Huizinga
