DEBATE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Debate

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/dəbˈeɪt/ Listen

noun

Debate n.

1.

A fight or fighting; contest; strife. (Archaic) "On the day of the Trinity next ensuing was a great debate... and in that murder there were slain... fourscore." "But question fierce and proud reply Gave signal soon of dire debate."

2.

Contention in words or arguments; discussion for the purpose of elucidating truth or influencing action; strife in argument; controversy; as, the debates in Parliament or in Congress. "Heard, noted, answer'd, as in full debate."

3.

Subject of discussion. (R.) "Statutes and edicts concerning this debate."

verb

Debate v. t. (past & past part. debated; pres. part. debating)

1.

To engage in combat for; to strive for. "Volunteers... thronged to serve under his banner, and the cause of religion was debated with the same ardor in Spain as on the plains of Palestine."

2.

To contend for in words or arguments; to strive to maintain by reasoning; to dispute; to contest; to discuss; to argue for and against. "A wise council... that did debate this business." "Debate thy cause with thy neighbor himself."

Synonyms: To argue; discuss; dispute; controvert. See Argue, and Discuss.

Debate v. i.

1.

To engage in strife or combat; to fight. (Obs.) "Well could he tourney and in lists debate."

2.

To contend in words; to dispute; hence, to deliberate; to consider; to discuss or examine different arguments in the mind; often followed by on or upon. "He presents that great soul debating upon the subject of life and death with his intimate friends."

See images of 'Debate'

Etymology of 'Debate'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Debate" Quotes from Famous Books

... powdered faces in which the eyes looked intensely alive and black. And first Don Juste Lopez, the President of the Provincial Assembly, passed with his three lovely daughters, solemn in a black frock-coat and stiff white tie, as when directing a debate from a high tribune. Though they all raised their eyes, Antonia did not make the usual greeting gesture of a fluttered hand, and they affected not to see the two young people, Costaguaneros with European manners, whose eccentricities were ...

— Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard • Joseph Conrad

... "I don't propose to debate this further," rejoined Murrell haughtily. Instantly the colonel's jaw became rigid. The masterful airs of this cutthroat out of the hills irked him beyond ...

— The Prodigal Judge • Vaughan Kester

... get them all to laughing, only the argument was never a very long one. One day it occurred to him that the debates were short because the others didn't hold up their end. He was talking for the fireless cooker—if it was going to be a real debate, they ought to speak up for the husband. But there seemed to be so much less to be said for a husband than there was for a fireless cooker. This struck him as really quite funny, but it seemed it was a joke he had to enjoy by himself. Sometimes when he came home pretty tired—for ...

— The Best Short Stories of 1919 - and the Yearbook of the American Short Story • Various

... the House of Lords. One is reminded of the saying of Daniel O'Connell, "If it took twenty years to do nothing, how long would it take to do anything?" In the House of Commons, Mr. Townshend said in the debate that facts had come to his knowledge which would awaken the compassion of the most callous heart. Mr. Mackworth said that the scenes of distress lay hid indeed in obscure corners, but he was convinced that if gentlemen were once to see them, they would not rest a day ...

— Chapters in the History of the Insane in the British Isles • Daniel Hack Tuke

... after a long and exciting debate, was declared a delegate, but the next day, to please the malcontents, the National Labor Congress made clear by resolution that it did not regard itself as endorsing her peculiar ideas or committing itself to the question of female suffrage, but simply regarded her as a representative ...

— The Trade Union Woman • Alice Henry

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