Altercation

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Altercation \Al`ter*ca"tion\ (?; 277), n. [F. altercation, fr.
     L. altercatio.]
     Warm contention in words; dispute carried on with heat or
     anger; controversy; wrangle; wordy contest. "Stormy
     altercations." --Macaulay.
     [1913 Webster]


  
     Syn: {Altercation}, {Dispute}, {Wrangle}.
  
     Usage: The term dispute is in most cases, but not
            necessarily, applied to a verbal contest; as, a
            dispute on the lawfulness of war. An altercation is an
            angry dispute between two parties, involving an
            interchange of severe language. A wrangle is a
            confused and noisy altercation.
            [1913 Webster]
  
                  Their whole life was little else than a
                  perpetual wrangling and altercation. --Hakewill.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  altercation
       n : noisy quarrel [syn: {affray}, {fracas}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  58 Moby Thesaurus words for "altercation":
     Kilkenny cats, argument, bicker, bickering, blood feud, brawl,
     broil, cat-and-dog life, combat, conflict, contention,
     contentiousness, contest, contestation, controversy,
     cut and thrust, debate, disputation, dispute, donnybrook,
     donnybrook fair, embroilment, enmity, falling-out, feud, fight,
     fighting, fliting, fracas, fuss, hostility, imbroglio, litigation,
     logomachy, open quarrel, paper war, polemic, quarrel, quarreling,
     quarrelsomeness, scrapping, sharp words, slanging match, snarl,
     spat, squabble, squabbling, strife, struggle, tiff, tussle,
     vendetta, war, war of words, warfare, words, wrangle, wrangling