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contention

n.
US //kənˈtɛnʃən// UK //kəntˈɛnʃən// con·tention
  1. 1 disagreement or conflict (n.)
    C1 Advanced Formal

    angry disagreement or fighting between people or groups.

    a state of strife, dispute, or heated competition between parties.

    Example

    The new housing project has been a source of contention in the village for years.

    Example

    The proposed tax reforms became a major bone of contention between the two political parties during the final weeks of the election campaign.

  2. 2 a claim or argument (n.)
    C1 Advanced Formal Academic

    an opinion or idea that you state as being true during an argument.

    an assertion or point maintained in an argument; a position taken or contended for.

    Example

    It is his contention that the company failed because of poor management.

    Example

    The lawyer's primary contention was that the evidence had been tampered with before it reached the laboratory for analysis.

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  1. 3 resource competition (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Technical Computing

    a situation where different parts of a computer system try to use the same resource at once.

    competition by multiple components or users for a limited shared resource, such as bandwidth or memory.

    Example

    The network slowed down because of heavy contention for the available bandwidth.

    Example

    The database administrator identified significant resource contention as the primary cause of the latency spikes observed during peak operating hours.

Origin

From Middle English contencion, borrowed from Old French contencion, from Latin contentio, contentionem, from contendō (past participle contentus); equivalent to contend + -tion (similar formation to attention).

Idioms1 entry

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