confrontation
n. C / Un. a situation where people or groups face each other in an angry or aggressive way. It usually happens when people disagree strongly and want to fight or argue about it.
n. a hostile or argumentative meeting or situation between opposing parties. Often implies a direct, face-to-face clash resulting from a long-standing conflict.
The manager wanted to avoid a direct confrontation with the staff.
The peaceful protest turned into a violent confrontation when the two opposing groups met in the city square.
Diplomatic efforts were redoubled to prevent the border dispute from escalating into a full-scale military confrontation that neither nation could afford.
From Middle French. Morphologically confront + -ation.
Often takes the preposition 'with' to indicate the opponent or 'between' to indicate the parties involved.