dispute

[dih-spyoot]

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

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

dispute

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

noun

1. an argument or quarrel

Other Word Forms

• disputer noun
• disputeless adjective
• predispute noun
• redispute verb
• undisputing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dispute¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of dispute¹

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

Idioms and Phrases

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.

see in dispute.

Synonym Study

See argument.

Example Sentences

Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who belongs to Thailand's most powerful political dynasty, was removed by the constitutional court last week for ethical violations over her handling of the border dispute with Cambodia.

From BBC

As first reported in The Guardian, the deputy prime minister used Verrico & Associates, a small family conveyancing firm in Kent to handle the purchase of the Hove property at the centre of a tax dispute.

From BBC

Those with knowledge of the matter have told the BBC there is a separate ongoing legal dispute over allegations the organisation's policies discriminate against disabled volunteers.

From BBC

Under the ruling, the parents who sued were entitled to a preliminary injunction that would require schools to “notify them in advance” when one of the disputed storybooks would be used in their child’s class.

From Los Angeles Times

The industry disputes that finding, pointing to a June report from S&P Global Commodity Insights that found that the rate of methane emissions in the Permian Basin dropped 29% between 2023 and 2024.

From Salon

Related Words

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