contention.

1. A claim maintained as part of an argument.

2. Disagreement or competition over a contested matter.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• central contention
• support a contention

On the page

Her central contention concerns the unequal distribution of risk.

Usage notes

Primary category: analysis / argumentation / evidence. Forms: Singular contention; plural contentions. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: argumentation, evidence, inference. Commonness: moderately common.