a contentious speech act; a dispute where there is strong disagreement; " they were involved in a violent argument"

the formal presentation of and opposition to a stated proposition ( usually followed by a vote)

A rhetorical exercise in which parties reason in opposition to each other on some question proposed.

A debate; verbal controversy; an altercation.

A contest in argument: an exercise in debate.

Act of disputing; contest in argument.

The act of disputing; controversy; discussion; argumentation.

The act of disputing; a contest in argument on opposide sides of a question; an exercise in argumentation on opposite sides for the sake of practice.

A controversy; a contest in words.

There appears to have been much disputation among critics and commentators, but no room for disputation surely would have been left concerning narratives, equally authentic and inspired, of a momentous crisis in the life of the Saviour. – The Religious Situation by Goldwin Smith

The relation of the disputation had at Sir George Trenchard's table, between Sir Walter Raleigh, Mr. Carew Raleigh, and Mr. Ironside, hereafter followeth, written by himself and delivered to the commissioners upon his oath. – Studies from Court and Cloister by J.M. Stone

Now yo' hush, Marse Dave, said Lindy, in a shrill whisper, I ain't er- gwine ter git mixed up in no disputation. – The Complete PG Edition of The Works of Winston Churchill by Winston Churchill

How all this noise, tumult, and disputation, this absence of the politeness to which I had been accustomed all my life, this vulgar jostling and brawling depressed me I need not say. – The Red Cockade by Stanley J. Weyman

And Jupiter, when he perceived that even in the night- time they ceased not from trouble and disputation, and that even the courts of law remained open, resolved to appoint one of his brothers to be the overseer of the night and have authority over man's rest. – Latin Literature by J. W. Mackail

His Disputation had won the approval of his father, who was even prepared to go to the expense of publishing it. – The Youth of Goethe by Peter Hume Brown

The clock struck five; none had dined, and many had not broken their fast, which the Presidents had, and therefore had the advantage in disputation. – The Memoirs of Cardinal de Retz, Complete by Jean Francois Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz

In the beginning of the year, when I came to Zurich, no one yet knew anything of Luther, except that a book was published by him on indulgences, but it taught me little, for I had already been instructed concerning the fraud of indulgences by a disputation, which my beloved teacher, Thomas Wittenbach of Biel, held at Basel, although during my absence. – The Life and Times of Ulric Zwingli by Johann Hottinger

The two commissionated prophets were by no means dismayed, by no means inclined to be outdone by the Quakers; they invited them to a disputation- a trial of the spirits, in fact. – The Coming of the Friars by Augustus Jessopp

In addition to this council composed of the chief officers of the government, I consider it essentially requisite that a barrister should be appointed as a counsellor to the governor, at all times when his excellency is referred to in matter of doubtful disputation, which must oftentimes occur in the colony, and which frequently reduces him to an unpleasant dilemma. – The Present Picture of New South Wales (1811) by David Dickinson Mann

It is not reason and disputation, saith Bernard, will comprehend these, but holiness, and that by stretching out the arms of fear and love, reverence and affection. – The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning by Hugh Binning