dispute

{{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}}

noun

ADJECTIVE

▪ considerable, major, serious

▪

There is considerable dispute over the precise definition of ‘social class’ as a term.

▪

The incident sparked off a major dispute between the two countries.

▪ minor, petty

▪ acrimonious, bitter, heated

▪ damaging (BrE)

▪ continuing, lengthy, long-running, long-standing, ongoing, protracted

▪ outstanding

▪

He proposed a negotiated settlement of the outstanding disputes between the two countries.

▪ public

▪ international, local

▪ internal

▪

There were lengthy internal disputes between the two wings of the party.

▪ custody (esp. AmE), domestic, family, marital

▪ industrial (esp. BrE), labour/labor (esp. AmE), pay (esp. BrE)

▪ border, boundary, land, territorial

▪ jurisdictional

▪

a jurisdictional dispute between the Army and the CIA

▪ legal

▪ contract, contractual, patent

▪ ideological, political

▪ commercial, financial, trade

▪ doctrinal, religious, theological

VERB + DISPUTE

▪ cause, lead to, provoke, spark

▪

one of the many factors that led to the dispute

▪ engage in, enter, enter into

▪ be drawn into

▪

Governments are often drawn into disputes about matters of public taste and decency.

▪ be embroiled in, be engaged in, be involved in

▪

They became embroiled in a dispute with their competitors.

▪ deal with, handle

▪

Police have difficulties in dealing with domestic disputes.

▪ adjudicate, arbitrate, arbitrate in (BrE), decide, mediate, mediate in (BrE)

▪

The purpose of industrial tribunals is to adjudicate disputes between employers and employees.

▪ end, resolve, settle, solve

▪ lose, win

▪ avoid, prevent

▪ be open to

▪

His theories are open to dispute (= can be disagreed with).

DISPUTE + VERB

▪ arise, begin, erupt, occur

▪

No one could remember exactly how the dispute had arisen.

▪ escalate

▪ concern sth

▪

disputes concerning environmental protection

▪ involve sb/sth

PREPOSITION

▪ beyond dispute

▪

The matter was settled beyond dispute by the court judgment (= it could no longer be argued about).

▪ in dispute (with)

▪

The actual sum of compensation due is still in dispute (= being argued about).

▪

The employees have been in dispute with management for three weeks.

▪ under dispute

▪

the matters under dispute

▪ dispute about, dispute over

▪ dispute among

▪

The exact relationship between the two languages is a matter of dispute among scholars.

▪ dispute as to

▪

There is no dispute as to the facts.

▪ dispute between

▪

a long-standing dispute between the families over ownership of the land.

▪ dispute with

PHRASES

▪ a matter, point, subject, etc. of dispute

▪ the resolution of a dispute, the settlement of a dispute

{{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}

verb

ADVERB

▪ hotly, strongly, vigorously

▪

The effectiveness of this treatment is still hotly disputed.

VERB + DISPUTE

▪ can

▪

No one can dispute the fact that men still hold the majority of public offices.

Dispute is used with these nouns as the object: ↑allegation, ↑assertion, ↑authenticity, ↑charge, ↑claim, ↑contention, ↑election, ↑fact