CONTENTION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does contention mean? 

• CONTENTION (noun)
  The noun CONTENTION has 3 senses:

1. a point asserted as part of an argument

2. a contentious speech act; a dispute where there is strong disagreement

3. the act of competing as for profit or a prize

  Familiarity information: CONTENTION used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CONTENTION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A point asserted as part of an argument

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("contention" is a kind of...):

assertion; asseveration; averment (a declaration that is made emphatically (as if no supporting evidence were necessary))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "contention"):

submission ((law) a contention presented by a lawyer to a judge or jury as part of the case he is arguing)

Derivation:

contend (maintain or assert)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A contentious speech act; a dispute where there is strong disagreement

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

arguing; argument; contention; contestation; controversy; disceptation; disputation; tilt

Context example:

they were involved in a violent argument

Hypernyms ("contention" is a kind of...):

conflict; difference; difference of opinion; dispute (a disagreement or argument about something important)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "contention"):

argle-bargle; argy-bargy (a verbal dispute; a wrangling argument)

firestorm (an outburst of controversy)

sparring (an argument in which the participants are trying to gain some advantage)

polemic (a controversy (especially over a belief or dogma))

fight (an intense verbal dispute)

Derivation:

contend (have an argument about something)

contend (to make the subject of dispute, contention, or litigation)

contentious (involving or likely to cause controversy)

contentious (inclined or showing an inclination to dispute or disagree, even to engage in law suits)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of competing as for profit or a prize

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

competition; contention; rivalry

Context example:

the teams were in fierce contention for first place

Hypernyms ("contention" is a kind of...):

group action (action taken by a group of people)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "contention"):

contest (a struggle between rivals)

Derivation:

contend (compete for something; engage in a contest; measure oneself against others)

 Context examples 

Well, at any rate he had discovered Brissenden's contention that nothing of merit found its way into the magazines.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

On the contrary, quoth Sir Nigel, there is much left to us, for there is a very honorable contention before us, and a fair lady for whom to give our lives.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She felt how unprofitable contention would be.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

It is possible that money has become a bone of contention, either with a spouse or a business partner/collaborator, and that you will need to have a heart-to-heart discussion.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

I left the house, the horrid scene of the last night’s contention, and walked on the beach of the sea, which I almost regarded as an insuperable barrier between me and my fellow creatures; nay, a wish that such should prove the fact stole across me.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

All day amid that incessant and mysterious menace our two Professors watched every bird upon the wing, and every shrub upon the bank, with many a sharp wordy contention, when the snarl of Summerlee came quick upon the deep growl of Challenger, but with no more sense of danger and no more reference to drum-beating Indians than if they were seated together in the smoking-room of the Royal Society's Club in St. James's Street.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

That I suffered much in these contentions, that they filled me with unhappiness and remorse, and yet that I had a sustaining sense that it was required of me, in right and honour, to keep away from myself, with shame, the thought of turning to the dear girl in the withering of my hopes, from whom I had frivolously turned when they were bright and fresh—which consideration was at the root of every thought I had concerning her—is all equally true.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The one critic in the United States had pronounced favorably on the poem, while his own contention that good stuff could find its way into the magazines had proved correct.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Poor Mary little thought it would be such a bone of contention when she gave it me to keep, only two hours before she died.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I can well remember that two leagues from the town of Rheims I met a very valiant and courteous cavalier of France, with whom I had gentle and most honorable contention for upwards of an hour.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)