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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Debate \De*bate"\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Debated}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Debating}.] [OF. debatre, F. d['e]battre; L. de + batuere to beat. See {Batter}, verb (used with an object), and cf. {Abate}.]
1. 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 ardor in Spain as on the plains of Palestine. --Prescott.
2. To contend for in words or arguments; to strive to maintain by reasoning; to dispute; to contest; to discuss; to argue for and against.
A wise council . . . that did debate this business. --Shak.
Debate thy cause with thy neighbor himself. --Prov. xxv. 9.
Syn: To argue; discuss; dispute; controvert. See {Argue}, and {Discuss}.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Debate \De*bate"\, verb (used without an object)
1. To engage in strife or combat; to fight. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
Well could he tourney and in lists debate. --Spenser.
2. To contend in words; to dispute; hence, to deliberate; to consider; to discuss or examine different arguments in the mind; -- often followed by on or upon.
He presents that great soul debating upon the subject of life and death with his intimate friends. --Tatler.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Debate \De*bate"\, noun [F. d['e]bat, fr. d['e]battre. See {Debate}, verb (used with an object)]
1. A fight or fighting; contest; strife. [Archaic]
On the day of the Trinity next ensuing was a great debate . . . and in that murder there were slain . . . fourscore. --R. of Gloucester.
But question fierce and proud reply Gave signal soon of dire debate. --Sir W. Scott.
2. Contention in words or arguments; discussion for the purpose of elucidating truth or influencing action; strife in argument; controversy; as, the debates in Parliament or in Congress.
Heard, noted, answer'd, as in full debate. --Pope.
3. Subject of discussion. [R.]
Statutes and edicts concerning this debate. --Milton.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
debate
noun
1: a discussion in which reasons are advanced for and against some proposition or proposal; "the argument over foreign aid goes on and on" [syn: {argument}, {argumentation}]
2: the formal presentation of and opposition to a stated proposition (usually followed by a vote) [syn: {disputation}, {public debate}]
verb
1: argue with one another; "We debated the question of abortion"; "John debated Mary"
2: think about carefully; weigh; "They considered the possibility of a strike"; "Turn the proposal over in your mind" [syn: {consider}, {moot}, {turn over}, {deliberate}]
3: discuss the pros and cons of an issue [syn: {deliberate}]
4: have an argument about something [syn: {argue}, {contend}, {fence}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
234 Moby Thesaurus words for "debate": Kilkenny cats, address, after-dinner speech, agitate, air, airing, allocution, altercation, analysis, analyze, application, argue, argument, argumentation, back down, balance, be abstracted, bickering, brood, buzz session, canvass, canvassing, cat-and-dog life, chalk talk, chew the cud, cloture, cogitation, colloquium, combat, comment upon, committee consideration, concentration, conference, conflict, consider, consideration, contemplate, contemplation, contend, contention, contentiousness, contest, contestation, controversy, controvert, cut and thrust, deal with, debating, declaim, declamation, deliberate, deliberate upon, deliberation, demagogue, demur, dialectic, dialogue, diatribe, digest, discept, discourse about, discuss, discussion, disputation, dispute, division, elocute, enmity, eulogy, examination, examine, exchange of views, exchange views, exhortation, falter, fear, fighting, filibuster, filibustering, filing, first reading, forensic, forensic address, formal speech, forum, funeral oration, go into, handle, hang back, harangue, heed, hem and haw, hesitate, hold forth, hortatory address, hostility, hover, hum and haw, inaugural, inaugural address, introduction, introspect, invective, investigate, investigation, jeremiad, jib, joint discussion, knock around, litigation, logical analysis, logical discussion, logomachy, logrolling, meditate, meditation, moot, mouth, mull over, muse, open discussion, open forum, orate, oration, out-herod Herod, panel discussion, paper war, pass under review, pause, pep talk, perorate, peroration, perpend, philippic, pitch, play around with, play with, polemic, ponder, ponder over, prepared speech, prepared text, public speech, pull back, quarrel, quarreling, quarrelsomeness, question, rabble-rouse, rant, rap, rap session, read, reading, reason, reason about, reason the point, recital, recitation, recite, reflect, reflection, refuting, retreat, review, rodomontade, roll call, ruminate, ruminate over, sales talk, salutatory, salutatory address, say, scrapping, screed, scruple, second reading, seminar, set speech, shilly-shally, shy, sift, speculate, speech, speechification, speeching, spiel, spout, squabbling, steamroller methods, stick at, stickle, stop to consider, straddle the fence, strain at, strife, struggle, study, symposium, tabling, take up, talk, talk about, talk of, talk over, talkathon, think over, think through, think twice about, third reading, thrash out, thresh out, tirade, toss, town meeting, toy with, treat, treatment, tub-thump, valediction, valedictory, valedictory address, ventilate, ventilation, vote, war, war of words, warfare, weigh, withdraw, words, wrangle, wrangling, yield
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