debate

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   argue with one another

   We debated the question of abortion

2. 2
   verb

   To participate in a debate; to dispute, argue, especially in a public arena.

   "Debate me, coward!" snarled the completely normal intellectual.

3. 3
   verb

   To fight.

   Well knew they both his person, sith of late / With him in bloudie armes they rashly did debate.

4. 4
   verb

   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 ardour in Spain as on the plains of Palestine.

5. 5
   verb

   To consider (to oneself), to think over, to attempt to decide

   He was debating where he'd spend his holiday.

6. 6
   noun

   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.

7. 7
   noun

   An informal and spirited but generally civil discussion of opposing views.

   The debate over the age of the universe is thousands of years old.

8. 8
   noun

   Discussion of opposing views.

   There has been considerable debate concerning exactly how to format these articles.

Etymology

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”).