Hypertext Webster Gateway: "contentious"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Contentious \Con*ten"tious\, a. [L. contentiosus: cf. F.
contentieux.]
1. Fond of contention; given to angry debate; provoking
dispute or contention; quarrelsome.
Despotic and contentious temper. --Macaulay.
2. Relating to contention or strife; involving or
characterized by contention. --Spenser.
More cheerful, though not less contentious, regions.
--Brougham.
3. (Law) Contested; litigated; litigious; having power to
decide controversy.
{Contentious jurisdiction} (Eng. Eccl. Law), jurisdiction
over matters in controversy between parties, in
contradistinction to {voluntary jurisdiction}, or that
exercised upon matters not opposed or controverted.
Syn: Quarrelsome; pugnacious; dissentious; wrangling;
litigious; perverse; peevish. -- {Con*ten"tious*ly},
adv. -- {Con*ten"tious*ness}, n.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
contentious
adj 1: inclined or showing an inclination to dispute or disagree,
even to engage in law suits; "a style described as
abrasive and contentious"; "a disputatious lawyer"; "a
litigious and acrimonious spirit" [syn: {disputatious},
{disputative}, {litigious}]
2: involving or likely to cause controversy; "a central and
contentious element of the book"- Tim W.Ferfuson
3: having or showing a ready disposition to fight; "bellicose
young officers"; "a combative impulse"; "a contentious
nature" [syn: {battleful}, {bellicose}, {combative}]
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.