at issue
Idioms-
In question, under discussion; also, to be decided. For example, Who will pay for the refreshments was the point at issue . [Early 1800s]
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In conflict, in disagreement, as in Physicians are still at issue over the appropriate use of hormone therapy . This usage, from legal terminology, was defined by Sir William Blackstone ( Commentaries on the Laws of England , 1768), who said that when a point is affirmed by one side and denied by the other, “they are then said to be at issue .”
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.
Trade was also at issue in the War of 1812, when the U.S. sided with Napoleonic France in its death struggle with Great Britain.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
L.A.’s declining share of a contracting film and television industry is hollowing out its middle class, a group Pratt rarely talks about when homelessness is not at issue.
From Slate ● Jun. 3, 2026
"The conduct at issue, namely the observation and recording of our training session ahead of a fixture of such significance, goes to the heart of sporting integrity and fair competition," Middlesbrough's statement said.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
The State Department says, however, many of the countries at issue are too unsafe for Americans to visit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
Many boys were pledged or even married in their early teens, and some, where the uniting of high-class families was at issue, to older girls.
From "Tiger, Tiger" by Lynne Reid Banks
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
