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.
What was at issue is whether the FCC is allowed to change the rules on its own.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 19, 2026
“More factual development is necessary and it may be that the only government action at issue is termination of grants for which I have no jurisdiction to review,” Shah wrote.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 12, 2026
“Where jurisdictional questions are at issue, the Commission has the expertise and responsibility to defend its exclusive jurisdiction over commodity derivatives,” Selig said.
From Barron's • Jan. 29, 2026
In a declaration filed in court on Monday, the head of HSI’s Minneapolis field office said the agency was “the lead investigatory entity reviewing the use-of-force encounter at issue in this case.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 27, 2026
The principle at issue was straightforward: natural facts must be replicable and reproducible if they are to count as facts at all.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
