Definition of contention
1 : an act or instance of contending He has taken himself out of contention for the directorship.
2 : a point advanced or maintained in a debate or argument It is his contention that allowing a casino to be built would not be in the best interests of the city.
3 : rivalry, competition
From the M-W Editors
Examples of contention in a Sentence
Tiger Woods splashed his way into contention in the New Zealand Open … shooting a four under par to close within six strokes of the lead. —New York Times, 13 Jan. 2002
The issues behind the protest are the usual bones of collective-bargaining contention: pay increases, vacation time, union membership. —Louis Menand, New Yorker, 17 & 24 June 2002
Science, and academic scholarship in general, the contention these days goes, is too subjective. Some even allege it's entirely subjective, as is, they say, history. —Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World, 1996
All quotes from QDB.
That has been a source of contention for years.
He is in contention for the Olympic medal.
Recent Examples of contention from the Web
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The contention continued the next day in Sicily at the G7 summit, where leaders implored Trump to stay in the Paris agreement.
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With so many teams still in playoff contention, with so much baseball still to be played, much of baseball is in a similar holding pattern waiting to evaluate what’s what themselves.
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This looks like an ideal match of ascending coach and program, but beware: Anything less than yearly Conference USA championship contention will be seen as a step back for WKU.
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Ensalaco, recruited to Ball State as a libero, put Sandburg on his back in the closing moments, landing four kills over the final eight points to keep the Eagles in contention.
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One main point of contention: Harris said House Democrats are united in their opposition to making the income tax hike retroactive to Jan. 1 of this year as the Senate called for.
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Turkish developer Mehmet Bayraktar built and opened a mega-yacht marina early last year, but has only just begun work on the upland portion of the project — an action that is now a point of contention.
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Climate change is another bone of contention, however.
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Neuqua has high hopes for trophy contention behind its stable of distance runners, Donovan Turner in the 110 hurdles and Myles Gascon in the 100.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'contention'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of contention
Middle English contencioun, from Anglo-French cuntenciun, from Latin contention-, contentio, from contendere
First Known Use: 14th century
Synonym Discussion of contention
CONTENTION Defined for English Language Learners
contention
playDefinition of contention for English Language Learners
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: something (such as a belief, opinion, or idea) that is argued or stated
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: anger and disagreement
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: a situation in which you have a chance to win something that you are trying to win
CONTENTION Defined for Kids
contention
playDefinition of contention for Students
1 : something that is argued It's my contention that watching television is a waste of time.
2 : anger and disagreement
3 : a state or situation of having a chance to win She's in contention for the gold medal.
Learn More about contention
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See words that rhyme with contention Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for contention Spanish Central: Translation of contention Nglish: Translation of contention for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of contention for Arabic speakers
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