dispute

[ dih-spyoot ]

verb (used without object)

, dis·put·ed, dis·put·ing.

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)

, dis·put·ed, dis·put·ing.

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

Derived Forms

• disˈputer, noun

Other Words From

• dis·pute·less adjective
• dis·put·er noun
• pre·dis·pute noun verb predisputed predisputing
• re·dis·pute verb redisputed redisputing
• un·dis·put·ing 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.

More idioms and phrases containing dispute

see in dispute .

Synonym Study

See argument.

Example Sentences

The only dispute comes as to who has better grades.

From Los Angeles Times

Shia and Sunni Muslims have engaged in tribal and sectarian rivalries over land disputes for decades.

From BBC

But the couple's only son, Shahryar Mohammad Khan, became the subject of an ugly custody dispute.

From BBC

What is clear is that this dispute will not be easy to resolve.

From BBC

It’s disputed history, for one thing, which means it unnecessarily slathers genre suspense on an already overwrought, cookie-cutter and ideologically ultra-confident biography.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• challenge
• contend
• contest
• contradict
• deny
• discuss
• disprove
• doubt
• quarrel
• rebut
• refute
• wrangle