disputing

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of dispute.

   The committee spent hours disputing the proposed budget.

   Residents are disputing the new parking rules with the council.

   Note

   The -ing form takes its grammar from the verb's two patterns. With a direct object it means calling something into question: disputing a claim, disputing the bill. Without one it means arguing, usually with someone or about something. As a gerund it keeps that object (disputing the charges took months), which separates it from the noun meaning "argument", which never takes one.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   An argument or disagreement between people; a dispute.

   Years of disputing over the property finally reached the courts.

   The board's constant disputing delayed nearly every decision.

   Similararguing, wrangling, bickering, quarreling, squabbling

   Oppositeagreement, harmony, consensus

   Note

   As a noun it usually names arguing as an ongoing activity rather than a single quarrel: years of disputing, constant disputing. It can also be counted. The King James Bible of 1611 urges readers to "do all things without murmurings and disputings," where the plural pairs with another -ings noun to suggest many small, repeated quarrels rather than one clash.

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