First Known Use: 13th century
Dictionary
1dispute
verb dis·pute \di-ˈspyüt\
: to say or show that (something) may not be true, correct, or legal
: to argue about (something)
: to fight in order to take control of (something)
dis·put·eddis·put·ing
Full Definition of DISPUTE
intransitive verb
: to engage in argument : debate; especially : to argue irritably or with irritating persistence
transitive verb
1
a : to make the subject of disputation <legislators hotly disputed the bill> b : to call into question <her honesty was never disputed>
2
a : to struggle against : oppose <disputed the advance of the invaders> b : to contend over <both sides disputed the bridgehead>
— dis·put·able \di-ˈspyü-tə-bəl, ˈdis-pyə-\ adjective
— dis·put·ably \-blē\ adverb
— dis·put·er noun
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See dispute defined for kids
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Origin of DISPUTE
Middle English, from Anglo-French desputer, from Latin disputare to discuss, from dis- + putare to think
Related to DISPUTE
Rhymes with DISPUTE
acute, astute, Asyût, bear fruit, beetroot, Beirut, birthroot, bloodroot, breadfruit, butut, cahoot, Canute, catsuit, cheroot, choucroute, clubroot, commute, compute, confute, crapshoot, cube root, deaf-mute, depute, dilute, dry suit, elute, en route, enroot, flight suit, folkmoot, freeboot, galoot, grapefruit, G suit, hardboot, hip boot, hirsute, imbrute, impute, jackboot, jackfruit, jumpsuit, kashruth, lawsuit, long suit, lounge suit, minute, nonsuit, offshoot, outshoot, Paiute, pantsuit, permute, playsuit, pollute, pursuit, recruit, refute, repute, salute, sans doute, seaboot, snowsuit, solute, square root, star fruit, star route, statute, strong suit, sunsuit, sweat suit, swimsuit, take root, taproot, to boot, tracksuit, trade route, transmute, tribute, uproot, volute, wet suit
2dispute
noun dis·pute \di-ˈspyüt, ˈdis-ˌpyüt\
: a disagreement or argument
Full Definition of DISPUTE
2
obsolete : physical combat
See dispute defined for English-language learners
First Known Use of DISPUTE
1555
Related to DISPUTE
- Synonyms
- contestation, controversy, debate, difference, difficulty, disputation, disagreement, dissension (also dissention), dissensus, firestorm, nonconcurrence
DISPUTE Defined for Kids
1dispute
verb dis·pute \di-ˈspyüt\
dis·put·eddis·put·ing
Definition of DISPUTE for Kids
1
: to question or deny the truth or rightness of <No one ever disputed the story.>
2
: argue 1 <The boys disputed over who won the race.>
3
: to fight over <The two nations disputed the territory.>
Word Root of DISPUTE
The Latin word putāre, meaning “to think,” gives us the root put. Words from the Latin putāre have something to do with thinking. A reputation is what other people think about something or someone. To compute is to use math to think about a bunch of numbers together in order to answer a problem. To dispute is to argue because two or more people think different things.
2dispute
noun
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