dispute

Pluraldisputes

Formsdisputes, disputing, disputed

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A disagreement or argument, especially one in which two sides fail to reach agreement.

   The two neighbors got into a dispute over the property line.

   Their dispute about the unpaid bill lasted for weeks.

   Similardisagreement, argument, quarrel, conflict, feud

   Oppositeagreement, accord

   Note

   Here the noun is countable: it takes an article and a plural, as in a dispute or two disputes, and it names one particular quarrel with sides. A labor dispute stopped locomotive work at Swindon in 1964, according to Modern Railways. The root is Latin disputare, from dis- "apart" and putare "to reckon," a verb that originally meant "to make clean, clear up." Disputing was reckoning a matter out.

2. 2
   verbtransitive

   To oppose a claim by argument; to question or deny the truth or validity of something.

   The lawyers dispute the validity of the contract.

   Critics disputed his findings for years afterward.

   Similarchallenge, contest, question, deny, contradict

   Oppositeaccept, concede, acknowledge, admit

   Note

   Its past participle often works as an adjective in this sense: a disputed authority, a disputed result. George Bancroft's History of the United States speaks of seizing goods "under the disputed authority of writs of assistance." That authority was still exercised, but its validity was questioned. The usual objects are claims, findings, assertions and the validity of documents.

3. 3
   verbintransitive

   To argue in opposition to a position that another person maintains or upholds.

   Scholars continue to dispute about the poem's true meaning.

   The committee members disputed long into the night.

   Similarargue, debate, wrangle, quarrel, bicker

   Oppositeagree, concur

   Note

   Used without an object, the verb names the act of arguing. The opponent or topic comes in with a preposition: dispute with someone, dispute about something. In H. Rider Haggard's She (1887), a speaker recalls old philosophers "with whom in days bygone I have disputed." Once an object follows directly, the meaning shifts toward denying a claim. To dispute a point is to challenge it, not merely to argue about it.

4. 4
   verbtransitive

   To contend for; to contest possession of or a claim to something.

   Several heirs dispute the estate.

   The candidates disputed the open seat in a close race.

   Similarcontest, fight

   Oppositeconcede, yield, cede, relinquish

   Note

   Here the thing argued over is possession itself, and the rival comes in with "with." William H. Prescott, in his History of the Reign of Philip the Second, writes of forces ready "to dispute the possession of the ground with the Spaniards." The objects are things that can be held or won, such as ground, an estate or a seat. The contest may be fought with arms or votes rather than words.

5. 5
   verbtransitive

   To argue both sides of a question; to debate a matter as a subject of discussion.

   The two sides disputed the proposal point by point.

   Medieval scholars would dispute theological questions in public halls.

   Similardebate, discuss, argue

6. 6
   noununcountable

   Verbal controversy or disagreement; the give-and-take of argument and debate.

   The findings remain open to dispute among experts.

   The matter was settled quietly, without further dispute.

   Similardebate, controversy, argument, contention, question

   Oppositeagreement, consensus

   Note

   Argument as an activity rather than a single quarrel, so it appears without an article: open to dispute, without further dispute. Milton, in Paradise Regain'd (1671), describes a mind "addicted more / To contemplation and profound dispute," meaning learned debate. That use stays close to the Latin sense of discussing and examining. Compare a dispute between two sides, which can be counted.

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