argument

1. (countable, also figuratively) A fact or statement used to support a proposition; a reason.Examples: "There is no greater, at leaſt no more palpable and convincing Argument of the Exiſtence of a Deity than the admirable Art and Wiſdom that diſcovers itſelf in the make and conſtitution, the order and diſpoſition, the ends and uſes of all the parts and members of this ſtately fabrick of Heaven and Earth."; "Says Plowdon [i.e., Edmund Plowden], the whale so caught belongs to the King and Queen, “because of its superior excellence.” And by the soundest commentators this has ever been held a cogent argument in such matters."alsocountablefiguratively

2. (countable, also figuratively) A fact or statement used to support a proposition; a reason.Examples: "Consider the argument: / 15) I am hungry; therefore I am hungry. / Intuitively this should count as valid. But suppose we thought of the components of arguments as sentences, and suppose we imagine the context shifting between the utterance of the premise and the utterance of the conclusion. Suppose you are hungry and utter the premise, and I am not hungry and utter the conclusion. Then we would have a true premise and a false conclusion, so the argument would not be valid. Clearly we need to avoid such problems, and introducing the notion of a proposition, in the style of this section, is one way of doing so."; "In ‘The Critic of Arguments’ (1892), [Charles Sanders] Peirce adopts a notion that is even closer to that of a propositional function. There he develops the concept of the ‘rhema’. He says the rhema is like a relative term, but it is not a term. It contains a copula, that is, when joined to the correct number of arguments it produces an assertion. For example, ‘__ is bought by __ from __ for __’ is a four-place rhema. Applying it to four objects a, b, c, and d produces the assertion that a is bought by b from c for d[…]."alsocountablefigurativelyuncountable

3. (countable) A process of reasoning; argumentation.Examples: "Indeed, I cannot commend my life; for I am conſcious to my ſelf of many failings: therein, I know alſo that a man by his converſation, may ſoon overthrow what by argument or perſwaſion he doth labour to faſten upon others for their good: […]"; "For if the Idea be not agreed on, betwixt the Speaker and Hearer, for which the Words ſtand, the Argument is not about Things, but Names."; "I shuddered when I thought of the possible consequences of my consent; but I felt that there was some justice in his argument."countable

4. (countable) An abstract or summary of the content of a literary work such as a book, a poem or a major section such as a chapter, included in the work before the content itself; (figuratively) the contents themselves.Examples: "If I would broach the veſſels of my loue, / And try the argument of hearts, by borrowing, / Men, and mens fortunes, could I frankely vſe / As I can bid thee ſpeake."countable

5. (countable) A verbal dispute; a quarrel.Examples: "The neighbours got into an argument about the branches of the trees that extended over the fence."; "Ar[mado]. Come hither, come hither: How did this argument begin. Boy. By ſaying that a Coſtard was broken in a ſhin, Then cald you for the Lenuoy [i.e. l'envoy]. Clow[ne; i.e., Costard]. True, and I for a Plantan, thus came your argument in, Then the boyes fat Lenuoy, the Gooſe that you bought, and he ended the market."; "In argument with men a woman ever / Goes by the worſe, whatever be her cauſe."Synonyms: argument, argy-bargy, altercation, barney, bawl out, blue, bobbery, brawlcountable

6. (by extension, humorous or euphemistic) Any dispute, altercation, or collision.Examples: "Steve got in a physical argument with his neighbor and came away with a black eye."; "While biking home, he got in an argument with the pavement."; "D5131 has received extensive cab damage, having been in an argument with Class 37 D6855 at Inverness in August 1971 - one of two accidents that occurred there on August 20."broadlycountableeuphemistichumorousuncountable