Link Centre Dictionary

contention

con·ten·tion

UK/kənˈtɛnʃən/ US/kʌˈntɛnʃʌn/ uncommon

noun

1.
2.

a contentious speech act; a dispute where there is strong disagreement

  • “they were involved in a violent argument”
3.

the act of competing as for profit or a prize

  • “the teams were in fierce contention for first place”

Origin

From Middle English contencion, borrowed from Old French contencion, from Latin contentio, contentionem, from contendō (past participle contentus); equivalent to contend + -tion (similar formation to attention).

Phrases

  • bone of contention
  • contention system
  • in contention
  • point of contention
  • resource contention

Related words

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.