debate

noun de·bate \ di-ˈbāt , dē- \

Definition of debate

:a contention by words or arguments

Our polite chat about politics became a heated debate.

The case sparked a raging public debate on property rights.

: such as

a law, government :the formal discussion of a motion (see ¹motion 3a) before a deliberative body according to the rules of parliamentary procedure

b :a regulated discussion of a proposition (see ¹proposition 1b) between two matched sides

the last presidential debate before the election

the debate's moderator

See debate defined for English-language learners

See debate defined for kids

Examples of debate in a Sentence

The candidates participated in several debates before the election was held.
The meaning of the text has been the subject of considerable debate among scholars for many years.

Recent Examples of debate from the Web

The looming debate over citizens’ rights—an ongoing negotiation that will affect 3.5 million EU citizens living in the U.K. and 1.2 million British nationals living in Europe—more than a year after the Brexit vote took place hasn’t helped, either.

— yasmeen serhan, The Atlantic, "Will Brexit Lead to a 'Brexodus'?," 30 Aug. 2017
The city joins a national debate over private prisons.

— cameron knight, Cincinnati.com, "Cincinnati moves to divest from 'unholy cause' of private prisons," 30 Aug. 2017
The debate delayed the passage of the Sandy relief package by several weeks.

— steve peoples, chicagotribune.com, "Bad blood lingers in GOP as Congress ponders Harvey relief," 29 Aug. 2017
But Hurricane Harvey’s unprecedented flooding in the Houston area changes the debate about the future of flood insurance.

— alex daugherty and david smiley, miamiherald, "Congress has one month to fix flood insurance. Hurricane Harvey makes it harder.," 29 Aug. 2017
There’s debate as to how high minimum wage should go, but more and more people, for example, are looking at $15 an hour as a sensible approach.

— lily herman, Teen Vogue, "Bernie Sanders on His New Book and What Young People Can Do to Change America," 29 Aug. 2017
However, some of the clip's details are still up for debate.

— christopher rosa, Glamour, "Taylor Swift Just 'Liked' a Bunch of 'Look What You Made Me Do' Posts on Tumblr," 28 Aug. 2017
Davie Hinshaw dhinshaw@charlotteobserver.com When asked if the debate set off by his email had any role in his absence from the August hearing, Smith would not comment.

— michael gordon and anna douglas, charlotteobserver, "Before tie vote, review board member claimed Scott hearing was skewed toward police," 25 Aug. 2017
In her new book, Hillary Clinton slammed Donald Trump’s behavior in the second presidential debate last year, when Trump seemingly stalked Clinton around the stage.

— christian holub, EW.com, "Hillary Clinton calls Trump a 'creep' in new book excerpt," 23 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'debate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of debate

see ²debate

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

See Words from the same year

debate Synonyms

Synonyms

account, advisement, consideration, deliberation, reflection, study, thought

Antonyms

short shrift

Related Words

cogitation, contemplation, meditation, pondering, rumination; introspection; agonizing, hesitation, indecision; premeditation

Near Antonyms

acceptance, compliance; concord, peace

debate

verb

Definition of debate

debated; debating

intransitive verb

1 obsolete :fight, contend

2 a :to contend in words

b :to discuss a question by considering opposed arguments

3 :to participate in a debate

the six primary candidates who debated last night

transitive verb

1 a :to argue about

the subject was hotly debated

b :to engage (an opponent) in debate

a governor debating her challenger

2 :to turn over in one's mind :to think about (something, such as different options) in order to decide

still debating what to do

—

debatement

play \-ˈbāt-mənt\ noun

—

debater

noun

See debate defined for English-language learners

Examples of debate in a Sentence

Scholars have been debating the meaning of the text for years.
Whether or not the tax cuts benefit the lower classes is still hotly debated among economists.
The energy bill is currently being debated in Congress.
The President debated his challenger in front of a live audience on Tuesday.
The students debated for an hour.

Recent Examples of debate from the Web

After passing a law earlier this year ratifying the group as a political party, the nation’s Supreme Court is now debating the legislation’s constitutionality.

— christine armario, The Seattle Times, "Former Colombia rebels try hand at politics with new party," 27 Aug. 2017
This isn’t the first time Clinton has discussed Trump’s debate behavior.

— christian holub, EW.com, "Hillary Clinton calls Trump a 'creep' in new book excerpt," 23 Aug. 2017
The president and senior White House officials were debating when and how to dismiss Mr. Bannon.

— charles p. pierce, Esquire, "Why I'm Not Popping Corks Over Steve Bannon's Exit," 18 Aug. 2017
A Charleston task force is debating how to handle temporary rentals, which critics say drive rents higher and change the character of the city’s neighborhoods.

— bruce henderson, charlotteobserver, "Visiting the Carolinas to see the Aug. 21 solar eclipse? Better book your room now.," 27 July 2017
This was, of course, just one variation on a much longer debate over who constituted the deserving poor in America, a cruel accounting that has always been at the edge of public discourse about charity.

— jacqui shine, Longreads, "Percy Ross Wants to Give You Money!," 20 July 2017
BTS's lead has now sparked a discussion among fans who are debating whether or not the Super Bowl would be a good occasion for the group to perform at.

— gabe bergado, Teen Vogue, "BTS Fans Are Debating Whether The K-Pop Group Should Perform at the Super Bowl," 19 July 2017
Any bill that has been posted less than 24 hours, going to be debated three or four hours, not scored?

— benjamin hart, Daily Intelligencer, "The Long, Winding Road to Republicans’ Failure on Obamacare," 18 July 2017
At a hearing last year to debate the proposed law, one of those who showed up was Sedrick, the Zenware chief executive who lost two engineers to TSheets.

— conor dougherty, idahostatesman, "Idaho is key battleground as startups, old guard spar on noncompete pacts," 15 July 2017

Origin and Etymology of debate

Middle English, from Anglo-French debatre, from de- + batre to beat, from Latin battuere

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

debate Synonyms

Synonyms

chew over, cogitate, consider, contemplate, ponder, deliberate, entertain, eye, kick around, meditate, mull (over), perpend, pore (over), question, revolve, ruminate, study, think (about or over), turn, weigh, wrestle (with)

Related Words

muse (upon), reflect (on or upon), reminisce; analyze, explore, review; conclude, reason; second-guess, speculate (about); brood (about or over), dwell (on or upon), fixate (on or upon), fret (about or over), obsess (about or over); believe, conceive, opine; absorb, assimilate, digest, drink (in)

Near Antonyms

disregard, ignore, overlook, slight; dismiss, pooh-pooh (also pooh), reject

Synonym Discussion of debate

discuss, argue, debate mean to discourse about in order to reach conclusions or to convince. discuss implies a sifting of possibilities especially by presenting considerations pro and con.

- discussed the need for a new highway

argue implies the offering of reasons or evidence in support of convictions already held.

- argued that the project would be too costly

debate suggests formal or public argument between opposing parties

- debated the merits of the amendment

; it may also apply to deliberation with oneself.

- I'm debating whether I should go

DEBATE Defined for English Language Learners

debate

noun

Definition of debate for English Language Learners

: a discussion between people in which they express different opinions about something

debate

verb

Definition of debate for English Language Learners

: to discuss (something) with people whose opinions are different from your own
: to compete against (someone) in a debate : to argue against another person's opinions as part of an organized event
: to think about (something) in order to decide what to do