Free TranslationFree Translation
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home
English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




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








Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words



Share |





"Contention" Quotes from Famous Books



... whistle from some of the watchmen. He said that night was a specimen of every night now. But it had not always been so. During slavery these villages were oftentimes a scene of bickering, revelry, and contention. One might hear the inmates reveling and shouting till midnight. Sometimes it would be kept up till morning. Such scenes have much decreased, and instead of the obscene and heathen songs which they used to sing, they are learning hymns from the lips ...
— The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Omnibus • American Anti-Slavery Society

... displacement of the estimated 6.6 million people and cross-border displacements of 8.6 million refugees around the world as of early 2006; just over one million refugees were repatriated in the same period; other sources of contention include access to water and mineral (especially hydrocarbon) resources, fisheries, and arable land; armed conflict prevails not so much between the uniformed armed forces of independent states as between stateless ...
— The 2008 CIA World Factbook • United States. Central Intelligence Agency.

... two parties were fairly formed and openly pitted against each other, a new element of discord had entered into politics, which added the bitterness of class-feeling to the usual animosity of contention. Society in the Middle and Southern States had been composed of a few wealthy and influential families, and of a much more numerous lower class who followed the lead of the great men. These lesser citizens had now determined to set up for themselves, ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 4, No. 21, July, 1859 • Various

... them there," said the one. "Beware of the leaping over the bridge of my sheep," said the other. "They shall all come this way," said one. "But they shall not," said the other. And as they were in contention, another wise man that belonged to Gotham came from the market, with a sack of meal upon his horse; and seeing and hearing his neighbours at strife about sheep, and none betwixt them, said he, "Ah, fools, will you never learn wit? Then help me," said he that had the meal, "and ...
— The Book of Noodles - Stories Of Simpletons; Or, Fools And Their Follies • W. A. Clouston

... Thyrsis. But the Lady, having been lured into the haunt of impurity, is left spell-bound, and appeal is made to the pure nymph Sabrina, who is "swift to aid a virgin, such as was herself, in hard-besetting need." It is in the contention between Comus and the Lady in this scene that the interest of the mask may be said to culminate, for here its purpose stands revealed: "it is a song to Temperance as the ground of Freedom, to temperance as the guard of all the virtues, to beauty as secured by temperance, and ...
— Milton's Comus • John Milton


More quotes...



Copyright © 2025 e-Free Translation.com