- debate
- {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun1 discussionADJECTIVE▪ considerable▪ growing▪
the growing debate on school reform
▪ fierce, heated, intense, lively, raging, robust, serious, spirited, vigorous▪There has been heated debate about whether the movie should be allowed.
▪ acrimonious, bitter, contentious▪The club started admitting women in 1901 after years of bitter debate.
▪ rational, reasoned▪The nature of this book is to provoke reasoned debate.
▪ honest, open▪Honest debate is the foundation of democracy.
▪ continuing, ongoing▪the ongoing debate over American foreign policy
▪ age-old, long-running, long-standing▪ endless▪ contemporary, current▪ broader, wider▪You cannot separate unemployment from the wider debate about the economy.
▪ public▪Television actually encourages public debate about such issues.
▪ national▪ internal▪Efforts to reduce the budget have led to a lot of internal debate at the studio.
▪ philosophical, political, scientific, theological▪ academic, intellectual, scholarlyVERB + DEBATE▪ have▪ contribute to▪Many leading charities have contributed to the debate on world poverty.
▪ enter, join▪He was reluctant to enter the debate for or against war.
▪ encourage, promote▪A healthy society promotes vigorous debate.
▪ fuel, generate, ignite, provoke, spark off, spur, start, stimulate, stir, trigger▪This accident has sparked off an intense debate on road safety.
▪ reignite, rekindle, renew, reopen▪The incident has reignited public debate over the role of teachers.
▪ drive, influence▪ stifle▪He accused the government of trying to stifle debate.
▪ frame, shape▪The entire debate is framed in terms of what you can do to protect yourself.
▪ lose, win▪The environmentalists seem to have lost the debate over the building of this road.
▪ resolve, settle▪ dominate▪Three major issues have dominated the education debate.
▪ shift▪These events shifted debate from economic issues to social ones.
▪ be a matter for, be open to▪The benefits of the new law are open to debate.
DEBATE + VERB▪ occur, take place▪A debate about safety is taking place in schools everywhere.
▪ rage▪ arise, erupt▪ centre/center on sth, focus on sth, revolve around sth▪The debate focused on who should pay for the changes.
PREPOSITION▪ under debate▪The issue is still under debate.
▪ debate about, debate on, debate over▪the debate on the environment
▪ debate among▪the debate among academics
▪ debate between▪ debate surrounding▪the debate surrounding contemporary art
▪ debate withPHRASES▪ the subject of debate▪The proposed changes to the law have been the subject of much debate.
2 a formal discussionADJECTIVE▪ brief▪ lengthy, long▪ acrimonious, fierce, heated, lively, stormy▪a stormy debate in the House of Commons
▪ televised▪ congressional, legislative, presidential, vice-presidential (in the US)▪legislative debates over gay marriage
▪ parliamentary (in the UK)▪a parliamentary debate on the fishing industry
▪ policyVERB + DEBATE▪ have▪We had a brief debate about whether or not to accept the offer.
▪ hold, host▪The union holds debates for students.
▪ participate in, speak in, take part in▪Do you ever speak in debates?
▪ moderate (esp. AmE)▪ open▪The president will open the debate.
▪ close▪ lose, win▪The government lost the debate in the House of Commons.
▪The poll showed that the Democrat won last night's presidential debate.
DEBATE + NOUN▪ moderator (AmE)▪ coach, team (both AmE)▪ performance (esp. AmE)▪Experts pore over the President's debate performances.
PREPOSITION▪ during a/the debate, in a/the debate▪ debate about, debate on, debate over▪{{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}Many of these points were raised during the debate on prison reform.
verbADVERB▪ fully, properly (esp. BrE), seriously, thoroughly▪ fiercely, hotly, vigorously▪The issue is still being hotly debated.
▪ openly, publicly▪The question of security needs to be debated publicly.
▪ at length, endlessly, extensivelyPREPOSITION▪ with▪a presidential candidate debating with his opponent
▪He sat there debating with himself what to do.
PHRASES▪ be widely debated▪The report has been widely debated in the industry.
Debate is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑congress, ↑parliament
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
