What's the difference between altercation and debate?

Altercation


Definition:

  • (n.) Warm contention in words; dispute carried on with heat or anger; controversy; wrangle; wordy contest.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Mitchell was forced to quit his cabinet post as chief whip over claims he called officers "plebs" during an altercation in Downing Street, which he denies.
  • (2) They were there for an hour and there was definitely no 'altercation' as this person is making out.
  • (3) The Ukip leadership contender Steven Woolfe has been discharged from hospital after an altercation with a fellow MEP.
  • (4) Costa was sent off with six minutes remaining in his side’s 2-0 FA Cup defeat on Saturday after an altercation with Gareth Barry.
  • (5) Fatal traumatic thrombosis of the left internal carotid artery occurred in a 38-year-old man following minor blunt cervical trauma during an altercation.
  • (6) On the leaks to the media of the original altercation, which was passed to the Sun, and of an email describing what happened, which has become known as the official log, which was given to the Daily Telegraph, she said that because there was no evidence of payment a jury was likely to decide that it was in the public interest for the events at the Downing Street gate to be made public.
  • (7) A white man and an African American woman got into a brief altercation over politics, and officers loaded a handful of protesters into an NYPD van, placing their belongings into plastic bags one by one.
  • (8) Willing to send himself up for advertising campaigns but taking his art extremely seriously, Cantona has at times been repulsed by the media (most obviously in his post-Selhurst Park suspension phase but also in a more recent altercation with a paparazzo in north London) but also used it to his advantage.
  • (9) Madison’s police chief, Mike Koval, said at a press conference that an officer shot a 19-year-old, who he said was responsible for a recent battery, during an altercation.
  • (10) But police apparently did not even tape off the area around the altercation – a basic requirement to secure a crime scene and gather forensic evidence.
  • (11) One man who tried to stop the altercation was also punched.
  • (12) The incident was not the only altercation at the Trump campaign event on Saturday.
  • (13) Eric Holder , the US attorney general, said at a press conference in Washington: “Michael Brown’s death, though a tragedy, did not involve prosecutable conduct on the part of officer Wilson.” The decision ended the second half of a politically-charged investigation into Wilson’s shooting of Brown on 9 August following an altercation in a residential side-street.
  • (14) Hours earlier, Ulivarri’s son, Luís Carlos, 23, had been shot in a bar, and then dragged into the night after an altercation with a group of men presumed to be members of a local drug cartel.
  • (15) Many street disputes are not gang or even clique related, but the climate of violence created by the gangs, with their ready access to arms, means that a Hobbesian, kill-or-be-killed mentality can afflict even the most minor altercations.
  • (16) The polarisation of the club’s stands into separate areas that are almost all white and stands that are ethnically mixed proved a backdrop for violent race altercations between the club’s own fans.
  • (17) The meeting was called ostensibly to clear the air after revelations about an altercation Mitchell had had with Metropolitan police officers in Downing Street, when he was the government's chief whip.
  • (18) The altercation in Downing Street on 19 September last year took place after two police officers on duty refused to let him ride his bicycle through the gates.
  • (19) Alan Pardew denied head-butting Hull's David Meyler in a touchline altercation but conceded he would be "stupid" not to expect the Football Association to come down hard on him in the coming days.
  • (20) The officer chased the man, an altercation ensued and the man fired at the officer, the police chief said.

Debate


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To engage in combat for; to strive for.
  • (v. t.) To contend for in words or arguments; to strive to maintain by reasoning; to dispute; to contest; to discuss; to argue for and against.
  • (v. i.) To engage in strife or combat; to fight.
  • (v. i.) 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.
  • (v. t.) A fight or fighting; contest; strife.
  • (v. t.) 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.
  • (v. t.) Subject of discussion.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) In a debate in the House of Commons, I will ask Britain, the US and other allies to convert generalised offers of help into more practical support with greater air cover, military surveillance and helicopter back-up, to hunt down the terrorists who abducted the girls.
  • (2) In attacking the motion to freeze the licence fee during today's Parliamentary debate the culture secretary, Andy Burnham, criticised the Tory leader.
  • (3) Amid the acrimony of the failed debate on the Malaysia Agreement, something was missed or forgotten: many in the left had changed their mind.
  • (4) The first experiment gave good results, although only one participant had any previous experience of hinge axis location, and it is debatable whether or not this experience is necessary before satisfactory results can be obtained.
  • (5) She said that even as she approached the gates, she was debating with the boy’s father whether to let the first-grader enter.
  • (6) But because current donor contributions are not sufficient to cover the thousands of schools in need of security, I will ask in the commons debate that the UK government allocates more.
  • (7) In a poll before the debate, 48% predicted that Merkel, who will become Europe's longest serving leader if re-elected on 22 September, would emerge as the winner of the US-style debate, while 26% favoured Steinbruck, a former finance minister who is known for his quick-wit and rhetorical skills, but sometimes comes across as arrogant.
  • (8) Conservative commentators responded with fury to what they believed was inappropriate meddling at a crucial moment in the town hall debate.
  • (9) The citizenship debate is tawdry, conflated and ultimately pointless | Richard Ackland Read more On Wednesday, the prime minister criticised lawyers for backing terrorists.
  • (10) While there has been almost no political reform during their terms of office, there have been several ambitious steps forward in terms of environmental policy: anti-desertification campaigns; tree planting; an environmental transparency law; adoption of carbon targets; eco-services compensation; eco accounting; caps on water; lower economic growth targets; the 12th Five-Year Plan; debate and increased monitoring of PM2.5 [fine particulate matter] and huge investments in eco-cities, "clean car" manufacturing, public transport, energy-saving devices and renewable technology.
  • (11) All 17 candidates are going to be participating in debate night and I think that’s a wonderful opportunity Reince Priebus Republican party officials have defended the decision to limit participation, pointing out that the chasing pack will get a chance to debate separately before the main event.
  • (12) "Medical professionals have perhaps been the least involved [of all sectors] in debates and discussions around abortion, and anti-choice groups have very effectively carried out a deliberate strategy of targeting and influencing health professionals.
  • (13) The only thing the media will talk about in the hours and days after the debate will be Trump’s refusal to say he will accept the results of the election, making him appear small, petty and conspiratorial.
  • (14) Opposition to legal abortion takes magical thinking and a lack of logic | Jessica Valenti Read more The only female Republican candidate for the White House has doubled down on her restrictive position over reproductive rights since a successful debate performance .
  • (15) Although the debate in the US has led to some piecemeal reforms – including the USA Freedom Act and modest policy changes – many of the most intrusive government surveillance programs remain largely intact.
  • (16) The debate certainly hit upon a larger issue: the tendency for people in positions of social and cultural power to tell the stories of minorities for them, rather than allowing minority communities to speak for themselves.
  • (17) On the mothers' internet forum Mumsnet, 44% of women who voted in a post-debate survey said they were now thinking of voting Lib Dem, compared with 23% three weeks ago.
  • (18) Both a voter and Cooper repeatedly asked him if he stood by his comments in the last Republican presidential debate when he insisted that was the case.
  • (19) Before the debate, most of our focus group expected David Cameron to win narrowly “because he’s best at debates”.
  • (20) The treatment of hypertension in pregnancy has been a matter of debate, but the treatment of choice in late pregnancy is delivery.