dispute

An argument or disagreement, often lasting a long time.

• They settled the dispute.
• A pay dispute closed the factory.
• Who owns the land is still in dispute.

How to use it: dispute over/about something (The neighbours had a dispute over the fence.); dispute between A and B (The dispute between the two companies lasted years.)

Similar words: disagreement, argument, conflict

Opposites: agreement

Common phrases: dispute over something, settle a dispute, in dispute

To say that a statement or claim is wrong or untrue.

• I dispute that claim.
• The witness disputed his account of the accident.
• Nobody disputes that the system needs changing.

How to use it: dispute that… (She disputed that the figures were accurate.)

Similar words: challenge, question, contest

Opposites: accept

Common phrases: dispute a claim, dispute something, dispute the facts

To discuss a question by giving reasons for and against it.

• The scholars disputed the question for hours.
• They disputed the merits of the proposed law.
• Philosophers have long disputed whether such knowledge is possible.

Similar words: debate, discuss

Common phrases: dispute a question, dispute the merits

To fight against someone or resist their advance or control.

• The defenders disputed every inch of ground.
• The soldiers disputed the enemy’s passage through the valley.
• A small force disputed the crossing.

Similar words: resist, oppose

Common phrases: dispute the passage, dispute every inch