Contention

3 definitions found

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

  Contention \Con*ten"tion\, n. [F. contention, L. contentio. See
     {Contend}.]
     1. A violent effort or struggle to obtain, or to resist,
        something; contest; strife.
        [1913 Webster]
  


              I would my arms could match thee in contention.
                                                    --Shak.
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     2. Strife in words; controversy; altercation; quarrel;
        dispute; as, a bone of contention.
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              Contentions and strivings about the law. --Titus
                                                    iii. 9.
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     3. Vehemence of endeavor; eagerness; ardor; zeal.
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              An end . . . worthy our utmost contention to obtain.
                                                    --Rogers.
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     4. A point maintained in an argument, or a line of argument
        taken in its support; the subject matter of discussion or
        strife; a position taken or contended for.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              All men seem agreed what is to be done; the
              contention is how the subject is to be divided and
              defined.                              --Bagehot.
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              This was my original contention, and I still
              maintain that you should abide by your former
              decision.                             --Jowett.
  
     Syn: Struggle; strife; contest; quarrel; combat; conflict;
          feud; litigation; controversy; dissension; variance;
          disagreement; debate; competition; emulation.
  
     Usage: {Contention}, {Strife}. A struggle between two parties
            is the idea common to these two words. Strife is a
            struggle for mastery; contention is a struggle for the
            possession of some desired object, or the
            accomplishment of some favorite end. Neither of the
            words is necessarily used in a bad sense, since there
            may be a generous strife or contention between two
            friends as to which shall incur danger or submit to
            sacrifices. Ordinarily, however, these words denote a
            struggle arising from bad passions. In that case,
            strife usually springs from a quarrelsome temper, and
            contention from, a selfish spirit which seeks its own
            aggrandizement, or is fearful lest others should
            obtain too much. Strife has more reference to the
            manner than to the object of a struggle, while
            contention takes more account of the end to be gained.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  contention
       n 1: a point asserted as part of an argument
       2: a contentious speech act; a dispute where there is strong
          disagreement; "they were involved in a violent argument"
          [syn: {controversy}, {contestation}, {disputation}, {disceptation},
           {tilt}, {argument}, {arguing}]
       3: the act of competing as for profit or a prize; "the teams
          were in fierce contention for first place" [syn: {competition},
           {rivalry}] [ant: {cooperation}]

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

  167 Moby Thesaurus words for "contention":
     Discordia, Eris, altercation, antagonism, anteposition, antipathy,
     antithesis, apologetics, apologia, apology, argument,
     argumentation, argumentative, bellicose, belligerence, belligerent,
     bicker, bickering, blood feud, brawl, broil, bucking, captious,
     carping, casuistry, caviling, challenge, clash, clashing,
     collision, combative, conflict, confrontation, confrontment,
     contentious, contestation, contradiction, contraposition,
     contrariety, contrary, contrast, contravention, contraversion,
     controversial, controversy, counteraction, counterworking,
     crosscurrent, crossing, defense, denial, despitefulness,
     difference, disaccord, disaffinity, discord, discordance,
     discordancy, disharmony, disputation, disputatious, dispute,
     dissension, dissent, dissidence, disunity, donnybrook,
     donnybrook fair, embroilment, enmity, faultfinding, feud, fiery,
     fight, fliting, flyting, fracas, friction, froward, fuss, hassle,
     hasty, hate, hatred, head wind, hostility, hotheaded, hubbub,
     hurrah, imbroglio, impetuous, impugnation, impugnment,
     incompatibility, incompatibleness, inharmoniousness, inharmony,
     jangle, jar, litigation, litigious, logomachy, malevolence, malice,
     malignity, militant, mischief, negation, noncooperation,
     open conflict, open quarrel, opposing, opposition, opposure,
     oppugnation, paper war, passage of arms, peppery, perverse,
     polar opposition, polarity, polarization, polemic, polemical,
     polemics, posing against, pugnacious, quarrel, quarrelsome,
     quarrelsomeness, rebutment, rebuttal, refusal, rejection,
     repugnance, resistance, rhubarb, rub, rumpus, scrappy, set-to,
     sharp words, slanging match, snarl, spat, spite, spitefulness,
     squabble, standing against, strained relations, strife, tension,
     tiff, traversal, truculent, tussle, undercurrent, unharmoniousness,
     unpleasantness, variance, vendetta, verbal engagement,
     war of words, warlike, words, wrangle, wrangling