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Contention   /kəntˈɛnʃən/   Listen
noun
Contention  n.  
1.
A violent effort or struggle to obtain, or to resist, something; contest; strife. "I would my arms could match thee in contention."
2.
Strife in words; controversy; altercation; quarrel; dispute; as, a bone of contention. "Contentions and strivings about the law."
3.
Vehemence of endeavor; eagerness; ardor; zeal. "An end... worthy our utmost contention to obtain."
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. "All men seem agreed what is to be done; the contention is how the subject is to be divided and defined." "This was my original contention, and I still maintain that you should abide by your former decision."
Synonyms: Struggle; strife; contest; quarrel; combat; conflict; feud; litigation; controversy; dissension; variance; disagreement; debate; competition; emulation. 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.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Contention" Quotes from Famous Books



... importance. Preconceived opinions inevitably colour our mental picture of Christ. Readers of the Gospel narrative find there the Christ they are prepared to find. On this well-recognised fact we base our contention that an examination of any Christological system must begin with the philosophy on which the system rests. That philosophy supplies the a priori, or the presupposition, or the metaphysical basis, whichever ...
— Monophysitism Past and Present - A Study in Christology • A. A. Luce

... not come this way, said the one. But they shall, said the other. Then said the other, and if that thou make much to doe, I will put my finger in thy mouth. A t..d thou wilt, said the other. And as they were at their contention, another man of Gottam came from the market with a sack of meale upon a horse, and seeing and hearing his neighbours at strife for sheepe, and none betwixt them, said, Ah, fooles, will you never learn wit? Helpe me, ...
— Notes and Queries, Number 59, December 14, 1850 • Various

... guilty to the grave offence of having suggested that a work of art is more than a work of art. The picture is only a work of art, and therefore void of all ethical signification. In writing the abominable phrase "but it is a lesson" I admitted as a truth the ridiculous contention that a work of art may influence a man's moral conduct; I admitted as a truth the grotesque contention that to read Mdlle. de Maupin may cause a man to desert his wife, whereas to read Paradise Lost may induce him to return to her. In the abominable phrase which I plead guilty to having written, ...
— Modern Painting • George Moore

... branch, with blossom and with fruit. Him Meleager, son of OEneus, slew, With youths and dogs from all the neighbouring towns Collected; smaller force had not avail'd, So huge he was, so fierce; and many a youth Had by his tusks been laid upon the bier. A fierce contention then the Goddess rais'd, For the boar's head and bristly hide, between The Acarnanian and th' AEtolian bands. While warlike Meleager kept the field, So long the Acarnanians far'd but ill; Nor dar'd, ...
— The Iliad • Homer

... with him Vivian, and leaving Ademar behind as the only gentleman in the party. He was going on an errand unpleasant to himself, for the King had committed to his charge a portion of the Gascon army. War and contention were altogether out of his line, yet he had no choice but to obey. He joined his cousin, the Earl of Lancaster, and the Earl of Lincoln, in Cornwall, and together they sailed on the fifteenth of January 1296, from a Cornish port termed Plumhupe in the "Chronicle of Worcester," but not easy to ...
— A Forgotten Hero - Not for Him • Emily Sarah Holt


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