DictionaryAI

debate

di-BAYT/dɪˈbeɪt/

Pluraldebates

Verbdebates, debating, debated

7 meanings of debate

Practice

  1. 1
    differing viewsnouncountable or uncountable
    Discussion in which people put forward and weigh opposing opinions, whether in public or informally among friends.

    The proposal generated heated debate among economists.

    Climate policy remains a subject of intense debate worldwide.

    UsageTakes much, considerable or little (much debate); a debate is one particular exchange. Under debate means still open.

    Similardispute, discussion, argument

  2. 2
    formal sessionnouncountable or uncountable
    A structured discussion, often among several people in a formal setting, in which opposing positions are argued and which usually concludes with a vote or decision.

    The candidates faced off in a televised debate before the election.

    Parliament's debate on the new tax bill stretched late into the night.

    UsageYou hold a debate on or about something; speakers take part in it and may win or lose it.

    Note

    In this formal sense a debate is an event: it is held, timed and closed, as when a committee votes after a four-hour debate. Several speakers often take part, and one side may win or lose. Ending in a vote or other decision sets it apart from the informal exchange of opinions, which is usually polite.

  3. 3
    verbtransitive or intransitivereciprocal
    To argue a question out with other people, each side putting its case, especially in public.

    The senators debated the proposed law for hours.

    Scholars continue to debate the meaning of the ancient text.

    UsageUsually with a direct object: debate a bill, debate the meaning; you can also debate a rival on television.

    Similarargue, dispute, contend

    Note

    The verb began with blows, not words: Middle English debaten, from Old French debatre “to fight, contend,” built on Latin battuō “to beat.” Older prose debates upon a subject, as The Tatler does in 1709.

  4. 4
    think oververbtransitive
    To consider something privately, turning it over in your mind in an attempt to decide.

    He debated the merits of each offer before signing.

    I often debate whether honesty is always the best policy.

    UsageOften followed by whether, which or where: debated whether to accept; often in the progressive, was debating.

    Similarconsider, weigh, ponder, deliberate, wonder

    Note

    Here the argument has no opponent but yourself. Close to weigh or mull over, it suggests reasons on both sides being set against each other.

Less common meanings

  1. 5
    nounobsoletecountable or uncountable
    Conflict and discord between people; quarrelsome strife.
    Note

    The noun's counterpart to the obsolete “fight” verb: debate as open hostility, not discussion. Where older texts use it, a modern writer would put strife or discord, and reading it as orderly argument would soften the meaning badly. Since it is obsolete, it belongs to reading older English, not writing new.

    Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The verb debate had an obsolete sense meaning to fight. en.wiktionary.org
    • The noun debate had an obsolete sense meaning strife or discord, supporting the note's distinction from orderly discussion. en.wiktionary.org
  2. 6
    verbobsoletetransitive or intransitivereciprocal
    To fight or do battle, especially to fight in order to win something.
    Well knew they both his person, sith of late / With him in bloudie armes they rashly did debate.
    1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene
    Note

    Here the Latin “beat” behind the arguing verb is still alive: to debate was to come to blows. In Spenser's The Faerie Queene (1590), knights “in bloudie armes they rashly did debate,” and Shakespeare's Sonnet 15 (1609) sets Time debating with Decay. The opponent follows with; when the verb takes an object, it names the cause fought for. A reader meeting it in Elizabethan verse should picture swords, not speeches.

  3. 7
    noun
    A medieval literary form, in verse, presenting a discussion or disputation between opposing figures or ideas.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of debate apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 3–4, 6

Latin dis- ("apart, in different directions") joined with battuō ("to beat, to fence") to give the Old French verb debatre, which meant "to fight, contend, debate" and, taken literally, "to beat down." Middle English borrowed it as debaten.

Meanings 1–2, 5

The noun came into Middle English as debat from Old French debat, which had been formed from the verb debatre.