noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a bitter debate/argument
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The country now faces a bitter debate over the issue.
a central argument (= the main set of reasons for or against something )
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Let’s consider the central argument for reducing the voting age.
argument
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None of these arguments are valid.
cogent argument/reason/case etc
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a cogent argument for banning the drug
counter an argument/an allegation/a criticism etc
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He was determined to counter the bribery allegations.
embroiled in...argument
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I became embroiled in an argument with the taxi driver.
furious debate/argument etc
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There was a furious row over the proposals.
line of argument/reasoning/inquiry etc
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It seemed useless to pursue this line of questioning.
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Opposition parties soon realized they would have to try a different line of attack.
marshal your thoughts/arguments etc
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He paused for a moment as if to marshal his thoughts.
massive argument/row etc British English
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I had a massive argument with her.
persuasive argument/evidence
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a persuasive argument against capital punishment
plank of an argument/policy/campaign etc
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the main plank of their argument
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a central plank of our policy
powerful reasons/arguments (= reasons that make you think that something must be true )
put forward an argument
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He rejected the arguments put forward by the company’s lawyers.
rational argument
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Nuclear weapons are so absurd that rational argument about their use is scarcely possible.
room for doubt/debate/argument etc
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The evidence was clear, and there was little room for doubt.
settle a dispute/argument/conflict
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Every effort was made to settle the dispute, without success.
start a fight/argument
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Oh, don’t go trying to start an argument.
sterile argument/debate etc
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the increasingly sterile debate on political reform
strand of thought/opinion/argument
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Plato draws all the strands of the argument together.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
further
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There can be no further arguments about gaps or overlaps.
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Your contribution may well resolve some of this difference or create more conflicting points for further argument .
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One further argument is used by defenders of the statusquo.
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The taxpayers indicated that they wished to present further argument on these points.
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Before parting with the case, we should refer to a further argument mounted by Mr. Thornton.
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After further argument and discussion, an Act was passed to amend the 1959 Mental Health Act.
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She could find no further arguments or resistance.
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For journalists, two further arguments are important.
main
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The main argument was, of course, the overcrowding of city graveyards, to which we have already referred.
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Here are some of the main arguments for and against the private property rights bill.
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Let us get back to the main argument .
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Seventeen years after his election, the country accepts his main argument: for lower taxes and smaller, fewer Washington-controlled programs.
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At the causal level, the main argument concerns theory and experience.
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One of the main arguments for Canoa Hills, for example, is that it will create jobs.
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The main argument from the Corsican was that they could hold out for ever.
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The second is to develop the promotional materials which can assist in conveying the main , general arguments for teaching history.
persuasive
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How persuasive is this argument in explaining the development, use, and effects of technology now, in the microelectronics era?
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Howard Saddler plays Cassius with steely determination, persuasive in his arguments that initially draw Brutus into the conspiracy.
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But Haig had persuasive arguments to support his inflexible resolve.
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He took me to such a vastly expensive restaurant and gave such a persuasive argument that I was fairly undone.
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We find that a persuasive argument , should we need any further persuasion beyond the plain wording of the Act.
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A persuasive argument that democracy can and should be based on active and extensive participation by the citizenry.
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The preservationists, pinning their faith to moral superiority and persuasive argument , were beaten back every time.
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There is a persuasive argument that it was not.
powerful
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There is a powerful argument for saying that, in general, it should be subject to the rules of administrative law.
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There is, of course, a powerful educational argument to be made on behalf of more time in school.
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One powerful argument attributes this stagnation to the economic structure set in the early 1950s.
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Despite these powerful arguments against mutual funds, there are still reasons why it makes sense for ordinary investors to own them.
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These were certainly powerful arguments for sending the coach back, but they did not prevail.
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But there is a second powerful strategic argument which has propelled nuclear power forward in Britain, as in other countries.
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Another more powerful kind of argument goes as follows.
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A powerful argument for causation could be the effect of treatment interventions.
similar
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There is a similar argument concerning leisure activities, the theatre, for instance.
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But it is not immediately obvious how to write a similar argument against the notion of justified belief.
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I made a similar argument in chapter 1 about practical support in contemporary society.
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By a similar argument , P underestimates the effect.
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A similar argument can be made for currency boards, on which Schuler had enthused earlier.
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A similar argument holds for any other commodity we try to tax.
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Another writer with a similar argument is the eighteenth-century cleric Bishop Butler.
strong
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Compared with the strong forces and arguments working the other way all this counted for little.
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He produced the strongest arguments why these provinces should not be partitioned.
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The first, simplest, and strongest argument was that it was wrong and unnecessary to place eleven-year-olds in separate schools.
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It is one of the strongest arguments for theism that it can do that.
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There are other very strong arguments for the importance of reading for pupils under the age of 16.
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One strong argument for the latter position would be the career of songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
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In the original submission the deputy head felt that the impending school closure was a strong argument for receiving the money.
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There would seem to be a strong argument , with so many millions of us, only to do it once.
■ VERB
accept
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I do not accept this argument .
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Seventeen years after his election, the country accepts his main argument: for lower taxes and smaller, fewer Washington-controlled programs.
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Mr. Jones I do not accept that line of argument from the hon. Gentleman.
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City Clerk Kathy Detrick says her office is now accepting written arguments on the pro and con sides of the ballot props.
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The Employment Appeal Tribunal did not accept that argument .
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The court did not accept this argument .
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These points are accepted in the current argument .
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Archbishop Fisher accepted the argument and became the enthusiastic leader of the new movement.
based
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They argued that a new racism based on arguments about cultural difference had largely taken over the arenas of public debate.
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All such activity is in the interests of both personal and national safety, but also is based on an economic argument .
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It is perfectly acceptable to draw conclusions of your own, based on the arguments and evidence you have presented.
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The formal challenge to Lewontin and Huxley must be based on mathematical argument but the general biological points are as follows.
cite
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Steele v. Williams and Hooper v. Exeter Corporation were cited in argument , but no reference to them appears in the judgments.
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And the license was denied, though not on the grounds we cited , because our argument raised constitutional issues.
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No cases are referred to in the judgments or were cited in argument .
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He regarded the case as governed by Morgan v. Palmer, 2 B. &038; C. 729, which was cited in argument .
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They did, however, cite the arguments of those who did.
close
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During one closing argument that summer, Gwinn broke down and cried.
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The retrial is now in the defense rebuttal phase, and closing arguments are tentatively set for next week.
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She said he spent 3 { days on his closing arguments because he has a weak case.
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The two sides will discuss jury instructions with the judge Friday, and will present closing arguments next Tuesday and Wednesday.
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Fujisaki will probably rule next week on whether defense lawyers can draw a more sinister inference from the delay during closing arguments .
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Testimony ended Wednesday afternoon, and attorneys are to give closing arguments Thursday.
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After the defense finishes its closing argument , the plaintiffs will have the opportunity for a brief rebuttal.
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But Baker said he and his co-counsel Robert Blasier will pick up those themes when their closing argument resumes Thursday morning.
convince
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Are you convinced by my argument ?
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I have never found this a convincing argument .
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Frank was convinced of his arguments and fought bitterly with Tom, another academic, when he mocked the whole system.
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The Bears made some convincing arguments Saturday in a 63-37 debacle against Washington State.
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But this idea is not available to anybody convinced by the regress argument .
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The Labour movement was not, however, convinced by these arguments: rather it continued to oppose family allowances.
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Milosevic, however, knows that the reality on the ground is the most convincing argument and he s busy creating it.
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We were not convinced by the arguments to the contrary.
hear
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The last time that I heard that argument so brazenly presented was by Mr. Neville Chamberlain's spokesman before the war.
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We have heard the argument time and again because the benefit is paid to all families, whether rich or poor.
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If Simpson is found liable, the jury would then hear arguments on what compensation to award.
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I shall be interested to hear any arguments in favour of that proposal, for it would be easy to knock them down.
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Judge Walker set Nov. 14 as the date for hearing arguments on a preliminary injunction covering the same subject matter.
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Therefore, I can speak of the experience when four hon. Members sit in quasi-judicial godliness hearing the arguments for and against.
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The high court will hear arguments in the case later this year.
present
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Its campaign against the euro, however, presented xenophobic arguments against further international economic integration.
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The two sides will discuss jury instructions with the judge Friday, and will present closing arguments next Tuesday and Wednesday.
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Blaug presented his argument with a rather different emphasis.
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The black students wanted to present different, additional arguments from those in the Texas brief in favor of affirmative action.
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An educated cleric well versed in Shia theology, he presents reasoned arguments for the beliefs of the conservative establishment.
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That will come Friday morning, when attorneys for both sides present closing arguments .
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Claims for loss of cargo should present some nice legal arguments .
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Without preaching, writer-director Tim Robbins presents the arguments of opponents and proponents of the death penalty.
reject
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Millett J. rejected this argument too.
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The justices, without comment, rejected that argument .
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The Federal Court ended the battle by rejecting all arguments presented on his behalf.
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Wilson denied him clemency and two judges rejected his arguments .
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Why do the Government reject the argument that even a Home Office Bill is capable of improvement?
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But a California court rejected the argument , and Kennedy settled.
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The judge rejected the argument that publication of the information in an article would be in the public interest.
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The state jury rejected arguments that Richard Boeken had freely chosen to smoke.
support
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The lawyer advocates formal legal propositions which he supports with reasoned arguments .
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At least this one case supports the argument for a flexible policy.
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Moreover, anarchists and socialists who offered alternative ways forward had few tangible achievements with which to support their arguments .
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Now, to support that argument , we were going public with some very private stories.
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Mr. Richards supports the argument of counsel for Madame Bihi on this question.
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Hastings said he would approve the trip unless the defense attorneys could cite legal precedents supporting their argument .
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It does not support the abolitionist argument .
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There is not the slightest scientific evidence to support such arguments .
use
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He didn't want Gina using those arguments next time he told her how much better he could have done for himself.
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A key ingredient of this proof was to represent the complex numbers geometrically, and then to use a topological argument .
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Anybody who was in a concentration camp as a guard could use that argument .
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The bigwigs attempt to persuade him, using a variety of arguments , that he is making the mistake of his life.
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Technically sweet and politically acceptable, it avoids accusation of moral hypocrisy by using economic arguments to appeal to self interest.
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And they are not used as arguments to deny the national unity of each of the countries concerned.
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There is an obvious weakness in this attempt to use an argument from experience to justify all arguments from experience.
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In some ways, she might be justified in using that argument .
win
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Unlike Locke, it does not possess the assurance of having won the argument on that ground.
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Invariably, marketing people are more senior, and win the argument .
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This time he managed to win the argument , but it was no bargain.
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You can, too, win a straight argument with them if you have a sound case.
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But, though we have won the argument , we are losing the war.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be spoiling for a fight/argument
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Be that as it may, Cooper was spoiling for a fight, as this unpublished letter shows.
circular argument/logic/reasoning
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Clearly the more elaborate the dress, the more dress-fasteners required, although there is here the danger of a circular argument.
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Failure to recognize this leads to circular arguments.
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Pupils can often fall back on a circular argument such as: Why is the relationship linear?
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The Court refused to allow itself to be caught in a circular argument as to which State needed to waive immunity first.
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The irony in all this is the circular logic of what appears to be the new strategic competition.
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This appears to be a circular argument, typical of closed-belief systems.
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We start by talking about a problem of circular reasoning to motivate the diagram.
compelling reason/argument/case etc
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Barring a compelling reason, governments should not discriminate between classes of citizens.
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But there are a number of compelling reasons to stand in line.
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But, in any event, there is no compelling reason to justify section 9.
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He was energetic, headstrong, and unorthodox-and he had compelling reasons for reducing the ruinously expensive Soviet nuclear arsenal.
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However, it is necessary to say a word or two here to refute this seemingly compelling argument.
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In the high-visibility, emotionally compelling cases such as maternity stays, an uproar resulted.
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The record is good but there is no compelling reason to buy.
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Unless there are other compelling reasons, therefore, never borrow money yourself to obtain funds needed by your corporation.
confuse the issue/matter/argument etc
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His reply was inpart denial of the criticisms, and inpart an attempt to change the issue or confuse the matter.
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Making comparisons between brains is a very risky business because there are confounding variables to confuse the issue.
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Perceptions, such as hers, distort the truth and confuse the issue.
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The Catholic arguments confuse the issue, but this time, for all the wrong reasons, the Pope is infallible.
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The politicians, on the lookout for arguments to extend their authoritarianism, jumped at this opportunity to confuse the issue.
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This attempt to confuse the issue went unanswered, and Santa Anna continued his preparations to advance on the capital.
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This will only serve to confuse the issue.
for the sake of argument
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Let's say for the sake of argument it was the scullery window.
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Let us assume for the sake of argument that Inevitable is correct.
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Let us assume for the sake of argument that you are not Joan Crawford.
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Let us say for the sake of argument that it is five different partners on the same night.
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Suppose, for the sake of argument, man, the true perpetrators of this crime are our enemies.
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This already poses problems, but let us say, for the sake of argument, that it is equivalent to place.
heated argument/debate/discussion etc
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After a short heated argument, the inspector agreed to pay the costs in cash from his local station funds.
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After fifteen months of heated debate, Billingham was abandoned.
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It got off to a hairy start with several heated discussions about what a wild boar is.
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No presidential policy is so controversial that it provokes heated debate.
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Since 1980, a balanced-budget amendment has been the focus of heated debate in congressional committees and on the floor.
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There was heated argument at the meeting, with strongly differing views advanced.
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There was a heated argument between the two men which at length it fell to Branson to settle.
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Witnesses have already given descriptions of the pair who were seen having what appeared to be a heated argument.
punch holes in sb's argument/idea/plans etc
pursue the matter/argument/question etc
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Anxious to avoid further difficulty, Harriet did not pursue the matter.
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I regret that they were unable to pursue the matter any further.
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If you feel upset by an apparent unfairness, pursue the matter through the grievance procedure.
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It is capable of extension, but we shall not pursue the matter here.
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She wouldn't put it past him but in the brilliant afternoon heat she wasn't inclined to pursue the matter.
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There was no need to pursue the matter any further prior to arrest.
put up a proposal/argument/case etc
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In other days Managers would have put up an argument as to the folly of this approach by Management.
the nub of the problem/matter/argument etc
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Even so, some brain cells were still working, as I stared inwardly at the nub of the problem.
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It sounds perfectly reasonable, but you will perceive that here is the nub of the matter.
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This is the nub of the matter.
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This, however, was the nub of the problem.
threadbare excuse/argument/joke etc
valid reason/argument/criticism etc
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A 1977 Supreme Court ruling permits police stopping a car for valid reasons to order drivers to exit.
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A second and equally valid argument is that the publishing world is an invaluable source of knowledge.
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Accepting criticism Accepting valid criticism is also part of this group of assertive actions.
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But a complete justification of authority has to do more than to provide valid reasons for its acceptance.
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But neither do we have to be defensive if they occasionally have a valid criticism.
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But there are also valid reasons for optimism.
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No serious thinker can make a valid argument that to discriminate based on species is acceptable.
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Povert drudgery and loneliness are valid reasons for sadness; beyond and beneath, far outreaching them all, is unrequited love.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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A 29-year-old man was shot and killed today after an argument over a gambling debt.
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Do you agree with the argument that violence on TV makes people behave violently?
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I'm sorry I'm not in a good mood. I had an argument with my husband this morning.
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My sister and I had a terrible argument last night.
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Phil got into an argument with a guy at the bar.
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Rose presented a good argument .
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The main argument against smoking is that it's bad for your health.
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What are the arguments for the legalization of cannabis?
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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In his mind Cameron continued the argument throughout the meal.
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It is not clear how much of the argument is really about policy, and how much about personality.
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Just stick to your argument that the dealer said you'd make a certain profit.
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Learn to study footnotes for further information and as clues to the scholarship and plausibility of the historian's arguments.
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Testimony ended Wednesday afternoon, and attorneys are to give closing arguments Thursday.
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This provides an important argument for the lead causes-hyperactivity hypothesis.
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We can regard the statistical argument about numbers of planets as an argument of last resort.