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View synonyms for contention

contention

[ kuhn-ten-shuhn ]

noun

  1. a struggling together in opposition; strife.

    Synonyms: combat, conflict

  2. a striving in rivalry; competition; contest.
  3. strife in debate; dispute; controversy.

    Synonyms: altercation, debate, dissension, disagreement

    Antonyms: agreement

  4. a point contended for or affirmed in controversy.


contention

/ kənˈtɛnʃən /

noun

  1. a struggling between opponents; competition
  2. dispute in an argument (esp in the phrase bone of contention )
  3. a point asserted in argument
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Other Words From

  • con·tention·al adjective
  • noncon·tention noun
  • precon·tention noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of contention1

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin contentiōn-, stem of contentiō; from content(us) “competed, striven” (past participle of contendere “to compete, strive, draw tight”; contend ) + -iō -ion
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Word History and Origins

Origin of contention1

C14: from Latin contentiō exertion, from contendere to contend
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Idioms and Phrases

see bone of contention .
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Example Sentences

State officials said the findings justified their contention that the $200 million was not missing, but that it simply had not yet been collected.

Fail to get at least one point in these matchups and you can fall out of contention very easily.

Despite dips in scoring average and shooting efficiency, Green has continued easing and directing the workload of his teammates, filling in crucial gaps as Golden State balances contention with player development.

For now, there’s really no telling whether legislators will come to together on preemption and the right to legal action, or whether they’ll remain points of contention blocking federal privacy law.

From Digiday

It’s not even the duo of Hailey Van Lith and Olivia Cochran of Louisville, a pair of newcomers both north of two win shares already, helping Jeff Walz’s Cardinals to title contention once more alongside player of the year candidate Dana Evans.

But that was so yesterday, much like his contention that he lacked the power to unilaterally confer amnesty.

That last statistic, however, is a point of hot contention between both sides of the battle for Tony.

Rather, she alleges that Madaleno has made it a point of heated contention throughout the campaign.

Koch had girded himself for at least a year of contention before his research would be accepted.

So even back then, this was an obvious point of concern and contention.

He has felt strongly, and he was feeling strongly now; he was feeling passionately—that was my whole contention.

I knew not that contention could be rendered so sweet and pleasurable a thing to the nerves as I then felt it.

Dorothy had tried her best to relieve Letty of half her burthen, and in return had been made a bone of contention between them.

Woe is me, my mother: why hast thou borne me a man of strife, a man of contention to all the earth?

Whether a description is clear, exact and sufficient is a question for the jury whenever it is a matter of legal contention.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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