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"dispute" is also used as a crossword clue. If that's what you saw, the answer is often contention (10 letters).
Definitions
have a disagreement over something
Word origin
From Middle English disputen, from Old French desputer (French disputer), from Latin disputāre (“to dispute, discuss, examine, compute, estimate”), from dis- (“apart”) + putāre (“to reckon, consider, think, originally make clean, clear up”), related to purus (“pure”). Compare compute, count, impute, repute, amputate, etc.
Used in a sentence
“But is not this dispute over the question whether we have free will or not very like a dispute that we might engage in over the color of a tree — whether it be green or blue?”
“Canadian experience throws light on the relative merits of a separate board for each dispute as compared with a permanent board to hear all disputes.”
“Addicted more / To contemplation and profound dispute.”
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer1 curated clues
01“Disagreement”7 letters
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