from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- intransitive v. To consider something; deliberate.
- intransitive v. To engage in argument by discussing opposing points.
- intransitive v. To engage in a formal discussion or argument. See Synonyms at discuss.
- intransitive v. Obsolete To fight or quarrel.
- transitive v. To deliberate on; consider.
- transitive v. To dispute or argue about.
- transitive v. To discuss or argue (a question, for example) formally.
- transitive v. Obsolete To fight or argue for or over.
- n. A discussion involving opposing points; an argument.
- n. Deliberation; consideration: passed the motion with little debate.
- n. A formal contest of argumentation in which two opposing teams defend and attack a given proposition.
- n. Obsolete Conflict; strife.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. Strife, discord.
- n. An argument, or discussion, usually in an ordered or formal setting, often with more than two people, generally ending with a vote or other decision.
- n. An informal and spirited but generally civil discussion of opposing views.
- n. Discussion of opposing views.
- n. a type of literary composition, taking the form of a discussion or disputation, commonly found in the vernacular medieval poetry of many European countries, as well as in medieval Latin.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- transitive v. To engage in combat for; to strive for.
- transitive v. To contend for in words or arguments; to strive to maintain by reasoning; to dispute; to contest; to discuss; to argue for and against.
- intransitive v. To engage in strife or combat; to fight.
- intransitive v. 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.
- n. A fight or fighting; contest; strife.
- n. Contention in words or arguments; discussion for the purpose of elucidating truth or influencing action; strife in argument; controversy.
- n. Subject of discussion.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To engage in combat; fight; do battle.
- To dispute; contend.
- To deliberate together; discuss or argue; also, reflect; consider.
- To fight or contend for; battle for, as with arms.
- To contend about in argument; argue for or against; discuss; dispute: as, the question was debated till a late hour.
- To reflect upon; consider; think.
- Synonyms Argue, Dispute, Debate, etc. See argue.
- n. Strife; contention; contest; fight; quarrel.
- n. Contention by argument; discussion; dispute; controversy: as, forensic debates.
- n. Subject of discussion.
- To abate; lower.
- To abate; fall off.
- n. Debasement; degradation.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. the formal presentation of a stated proposition and the opposition to it (usually followed by a vote)
- v. have an argument about something
- n. a discussion in which reasons are advanced for and against some proposition or proposal
- v. discuss the pros and cons of an issue
- v. think about carefully; weigh
- v. argue with one another
I think that there's room for debate about what is or isn't appropriate for public calling-out, but I think that the word *debate* there is key - not just running with a default assumption of anything possibly hurtful = bad = verboten.
One form might claim that the idea of a significant debate is generated by unsupported or unsupportable philosophical theses about the relationship of the experiencing and minded subject to their world, and that once these theses are exorcised the ˜debate™ will gradually wither away.
In either case, dressing the whole thing up in "debate" is futile.
It seems you are following the Richard Conlin "debate is over!" talking point.
That's what the "lifestyle change" debate is code for in the green space.
One good litmus test in debate is to quantify the hypocrisy, then take note of who is turning a blind eye.
Robert Potts, who recently retired as chancellor at Arkansas State University, witnessed the nickname debate in two states.
The term "debate" itself was debatable: the two agreed on so much that some viewers wondered if they were seeing the genesis of a Gingrich-Huntsman presidential ticket - the gruff elder statesman and the photogenic former governor.
But I do think, you know, when you compare - the word debate is, you know, in terms of Twitter will instantly be compared to television.
Have you been completely ignoring the Republican Debates using the term 'debate' loosely, more like circle jerk