dispute
Syllables: dis·puteUK/dɪˈspjuːt/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
British/dɪˈspjʉwt/
dispute noun: an argument or disagreement; a failure to agree.
Noun
dispute (plural disputes)
- An argument or disagreement; a failure to agree.
- But is not this dispute over the question whether we have free will or not very like a dispute that we might engage in over the color of a tree — whether it be green or blue?1919, Ellwood Hendrick, Percolator Papers, page 67
- A disagreement between parties in a contract, lawsuit, treaty, or other legal matter.
- Canadian experience throws light on the relative merits of a separate board for each dispute as compared with a permanent board to hear all disputes.1927, Ben Morris Selekman, “Synopsis”, in Postponing Strikes: A Study of the Industrial Disputes Investigation Act of Canada, page 28
- A "who-does-what" labour dispute at Swindon works during April led to a stoppage of work on the construction of the new 0-6-0 Type 1 diesel-hydraulic locomotives of the D9500 series and work had not been resumed as we closed for press.1964 June, “Motive Power Miscellany: BR Workshops”, in Modern Railways, page 432
- Verbal controversy or disagreement; altercation; debate.
- Addicted more / To contemplation and profound dispute.1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 4
Verb
dispute (third-person singular simple present disputes, present participle disputing, simple past and past participle disputed)
- To contend in argument; to argue against something maintained, upheld, or claimed, by another.
- "Now, though thy thoughts are green and tender, as becometh one so young, yet are they those of a thinking brain, and in truth thou dost bring back to my mind certain of those old philosophers with whom in days bygone I have disputed at Athens, and at Becca in Arabia, for thou hast the same crabbed...1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC
- To make a subject of disputation; to argue pro and con; to discuss.
- Some residents disputed the proposal, saying it was based more on emotion than fact.
- To oppose by argument or assertion; to controvert; to express dissent or opposition to; to call into question; to deny the truth or validity of.
- to dispute assertions or arguments
- to seize goods under the disputed authority of writs of assistance1834–1874, George Bancroft, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent, volume (please specify |volume=I to X), Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company [et al.], →OCLC
- To strive or contend about; to contest.
- to dispute the possession of the ground with the Spaniards1855–1858, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC
- To struggle against; to resist.
- Dispute it [grief] like a man.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
dispute meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
dispute in Hindi
- 1. argument, failure to agree
- असहमति ashamti, विवाद vivād
- 2. verbal controversy
- विवाद vivād
- to argue against
- वितर्क vitark
- to argue pro and con; to discuss
- तर्क tark
dispute in Tamil
- உறழ்வு, பூசல், எதிர்த்துத் தடு, சர்ச்சை, சிக்கல், சொற்பூசல்
dispute in Urdu
- 1. argument, failure to agree
- تَنازَعَہ tanāza'a
dispute in Bengali
- 1. argument, failure to agree
- বিবাদ bibad
More languagesFewer languages
- dispute in Telugu
- వివాదం vivādaṁ
- dispute in Malayalam
- തർക്കം taṟkkaṁ
- dispute in Kannada
- ವ್ಯಾಜ್ಯ, ವಾದ, ವಿವಾದ, ಮೊಕದ್ದಮೆ
- dispute in Punjabi
- ਕਜ਼ੀਆ kazīā
- dispute in Odia
- ବ୍ୟବହାର byabahāra
- dispute in Sanskrit
- वाद vāda
- dispute in Pashto
- شخړه šx̌aṛa, دعوه da'wá
- dispute in Tagalog
- balitaktak
- dispute in Arabic
- خِلَاف ḵilāf, مُبَاحَثَة mubāḥaṯa, مُنَاقَشَة munāqaša, جَدَل jadal
- dispute in Malay
- sengketa, pertikaian
- dispute in Indonesian
- sengketa, perselisihan
- dispute in Thai
- ความขัดแย้ง kwaam-kàt-yɛ́ɛng, การโต้เถียง gaan-dtôo-tǐiang, ข้อพิพาท kɔ̂ɔ-pí-pâat
- dispute in Vietnamese
- sự tranh luận
- dispute in Myanmar
- အငြင်း a.ngrang:, ပဋိပက္ခ pa.ti.pakhka.
Examples of dispute in a sentence
- The union had a dispute over sick time and other conditions of employment.
- People sometimes dispute which generation of Star Trek is best, including the original and The Next Generation.
- Church polity was a topic of fierce dispute in 17th-century Britain.
Synonyms of dispute
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of dispute
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | disputes |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | disputes |
| present participle | disputing |
| past participle | disputed |
| past | disputed |
Origin of dispute
From Middle English disputen, from Old French desputer (French disputer), from Latin disputāre (“to dispute, discuss, examine, compute, estimate”), from dis- (“apart”) + putāre (“to reckon, consider, think, originally make clean, clear up”), related to purus (“pure”). Compare compute, count, impute, repute, amputate, etc.
Words formed from dispute
Phrases with dispute
Words that rhyme with dispute
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- cute
- moot
- overshoot
- recruit
- salute
- volute
- impute
- pollute
- scoot
- snoot
- substitute
- chute
- depute
- dilute
- hoot
- loot
- pursuit
- reboot
- scute
- uproot
- Beirut
- cahoot
- Clute
- convolute
- lute
- zoot
- ablute
- Aleut
- argute
- astute
- beaut
- bruit
- compute
- coot
- doot
- en route
- glout
- jute
- minute
- newt
- poot
- refute
- repute
- resolute
- 'tute
- angel lute
- butte
- cheroot
Questions about dispute
- What does dispute mean?
- Dispute means an argument or disagreement; a failure to agree.
- What is dispute in Hindi?
- Dispute in Hindi is असहमति (ashamti), विवाद (vivād), वितर्क (vitark). See Dispute meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is dispute?
- Dispute can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce dispute?
- Dispute is pronounced /dɪˈspjuːt/ (UK).
- What is the plural of dispute?
- The plural of dispute is disputes.
Words near dispute in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: dispute (page history and authors); dispute (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); dispute (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਕਜ਼ੀਆ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); ବ୍ୟବହାର (Odia) (page history and authors); वाद (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-dispute.ogg.
Cite this entry: “dispute.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dispute. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.