debate
Pronunciation
[change]Noun
[change]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a8/Gladstone_debate_on_Irish_Home_Rule_8th_April_1886_ILN.jpg/220px-Gladstone_debate_on_Irish_Home_Rule_8th_April_1886_ILN.jpg)
- (countable & uncountable) A debate is an exchange of ideas looking at different sides of an issue.
- Synonyms: argument, discussion, controversy and exhange
- We will explore this idea through an analysis of the public debate on marriage and divorce.
- The government's spending programme is the subject of much heated debate.
Verb
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- (transitive & intransitive) If you debate something, you consider its positive and negative points, often by talking with other people in a formal situation such as government.
- The AHA had in fact been debating the issue of the future of the hospital for some years.
- Few subjects are more hotly debated in curriculum committees.