debate

Forms

1.To consider (to oneself), to think over, to attempt to decide
- He was debating where he'd spend his holiday.
2.To participate in a debate; to dispute, argue, especially in a public arena.
- "Debate me, coward!" snarled the completely normal intellectual.
- He presents that great soul debating upon the subject of life and death with his intimate friends.
- When the legislation was debated by the House of Commons, Labour Deputy Leader Angela Rayner said it was "riddled with holes", while former Conservative Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg said it was "badly written".

1.An argument, or discussion, usually in an ordered or formal setting, often with more than two people, generally ending with a vote or other decision.
- After a four-hour debate, the committee voted to table the motion.
2.An informal and spirited but generally civil discussion of opposing views.
- The debate over the age of the universe is thousands of years old.
- There was a bit of a debate over who should pay for the damaged fence.
3.Discussion of opposing views.
- There has been considerable debate concerning exactly how to format these articles.
4.A type of literary composition, taking the form of a discussion or disputation, commonly found in the vernacular medieval poetry of many European countries, as well as in medieval Latin.

Common· #1015

From Middle English debaten

From Old French debatre (“to fight, contend, debate, also literally to beat down”)

From Romanic desbattere

From Latin dis- (“apart, in different directions”) + battuō (“to beat, to fence”).