Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use debate in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb, noun

Debate means to participate in a debate; to dispute, argue, especially in a public arena. Example: “"Debate me, coward!" snarled the completely normal intellectual.”

Examples of debate by meaning

verbTo participate in a debate; to dispute, argue, especially in a public arena.

  • "Debate me, coward!" snarled the completely normal intellectual.
  • When the legislation was debated by the House of Commons, Labour Deputy Leader Angela Rayner said it was "riddled with holes", while former Conservative Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg said it was "badly written".2024 March 20, Conrad Landin, “"Farcical" Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act isn't working”, in RAIL, number 1005, page 25

verbTo consider (to oneself), to think over, to attempt to decide.

  • He was debating where he'd spend his holiday.

nounAn argument, or discussion, usually in an ordered or formal setting, often with more than two people, generally ending...

  • After a four-hour debate, the committee voted to table the motion.

nounAn informal and spirited but generally civil discussion of opposing views.

  • The debate over the age of the universe is thousands of years old.
  • There was a bit of a debate over who should pay for the damaged fence.
  • And, as their ubiquity spreads, so too does the debate around whether we should allow ourselves to become so reliant on them – and who, if anyone, is policing their use.2013 July 26, Leo Hickman, “How algorithms rule the world”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 26

nounDiscussion of opposing views.

  • There has been considerable debate concerning exactly how to format these articles.
  • The evolutionary precursor of photosynthesis is still under debate, and a new study sheds light.2013 September-October, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist

More sentences with debate

  • He often brings up current events in conversation to spark debate.From the entry current events
  • After years of debate over the best wine to serve at Thanksgiving, no real consensus has emerged.From the entry consensus
  • There is a debate as to whether graffiti is art or vandalism.From the entry art
  • He didn't prepare for the debate at all, so his opponent cooked him hard.From the entry cook
  • The petition was so ridiculous that the house rejected it after minimal debate.From the entry house
  • They debated the paint color options for the bathroom walls and settled on wheat.From the entry wheat
  • This is to acknowledge your kind invitation to participate in the upcoming debate.From the entry acknowledge
  • His argument was not convincing in the debate, considering how tenuous it was.From the entry tenuous
  • The morning news today played a clip of last night's debate.From the entry clip
  • The etymological roots of the word "blizzard" are obscure and open to debate.From the entry obscure
  • The debate went on for hours, but in the end the decision was unanimous.From the entry unanimous
  • That is the cornerstone of any meaningful debate about budgets and projects, regulations and policies.From the entry cornerstone
  • He listened carefully, in hopes of getting the scoop on the debate.From the entry scoop
  • The proposed changes to the tax system sparked a heated debate.From the entry proposed
  • There is a debate whether or not to legalize some of the softer drugs.From the entry legalize
  • He never got used to the cut and thrust of political debate.From the entry cut and thrust
  • The public debate became a heated mano a mano between the two leading candidates.From the entry mano a mano
  • Though only a student, he contributed informedly to the political debate.From the entry informedly
  • His experiences debating made him a more articulate communicator, not least because the topics were often controversial.From the entry not least
  • I said some things I didn't mean in the heatedness of the debate.From the entry heatedness
  • The debate was fought out in Parliament over the next few months.From the entry fight out
  • The government is debating whether to include various pay-fors in order to fund the new infrastructure bill.From the entry pay-for
  • The Congress debated the finer points of the bill.From the entry point
  • He pointed accusingly at his rival during the debate.From the entry accusingly
  • While others debated the proposals, he stood back.From the entry stand back
  • During the debate, the candidate sighed at his opponent's obfuscations.From the entry obfuscation
  • The two rugbies split following a debate about amateurism.From the entry rugby
  • Politicians often joust with words during debates.From the entry joust
  • He has sidetracked this debate for far too long.From the entry sidetrack
  • A maverick politician repeatedly interrupted the debate by shouting.From the entry interrupt
  • Members of the legislature debated late into the night.From the entry legislature

Meaning of debate

  1. verb To participate in a debate; to dispute, argue, especially in a public arena.
  2. verb To fight.
  3. verb To engage in combat for; to strive for.

Full definition of debate

Questions about debate in a sentence

How do you use debate in a sentence?
Debate is used as a verb and noun. For example: “"Debate me, coward!" snarled the completely normal intellectual.”
What is a short sentence with debate?
“Politicians often joust with words during debates.”
What does debate mean?
Debate means to participate in a debate; to dispute, argue, especially in a public arena.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: debate (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use debate in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/debate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.