noun
1 discussion
ADJECTIVE
▪ bitter , heated , violent
▪ big
▪
I had a big ~ with my mother this morning.
▪ little , petty , pointless , silly , stupid
▪ age-old
VERB + ARGUMENT
▪ become involved in , get into , get involved in , have
▪
I don't want to get into an ~ with her.
▪ cause , provoke , start
▪ lose , win
▪
I was determined to win the ~.
▪ settle
▪
Jory was always the one who settled ~s between us.
ARGUMENT + VERB
▪ arise , break out , develop , erupt
▪
Minutes later a violent ~ erupted.
▪ ensue
▪
He felt offended by the suggestion, and a violent ~ ensued.
▪ rage
▪
the bitter ~s raging about who was the real winner
PREPOSITION
▪ ~ about
▪
We had an ~ about what we should buy.
▪ ~ between
▪
an ~ between her parents
▪ ~ over
▪
The ~ over decentralization will probably continue for ever.
▪ ~ with
▪
an ~ with his wife
PHRASES
▪ brook no ~
▪
‘You'll come home with me.’ His voice brooked no ~.
2 reason supporting opinion
ADJECTIVE
▪ basic , general
▪ central , main
▪ closing
▪
In her closing ~, the prosecutor said that the hairs found on the defendant matched those of the victim.
▪ forceful , good , major , powerful , sound , strong , valid
▪ cogent , compelling , conclusive , convincing , persuasive
▪
There is a convincing ~ for the Federal Government to take greater responsibility for cities.
▪
The author makes a compelling ~ for the use of hydrogen as a fuel.
▪ credible , plausible
▪
Their ~ sounds plausible, but is it really valid?
▪ substantive ( formal , esp. AmE )
▪ bogus , fallacious ( formal ), slippery-slope ( AmE ), specious ( formal ), spurious , weak
▪ ridiculous
▪ circular
▪ legitimate , reasonable
▪ logical , rational , reasoned , well-reasoned
▪ opposing
▪ economic , legal , moral , philosophical , political , theoretical , etc.
VERB + ARGUMENT
▪ advance , deploy , make , mount , offer , present , put forward , use
▪
He put forward some very convincing ~s.
▪ articulate
▪ develop
▪
This ~ is developed further in the next chapter.
▪ build , construct , formulate , frame
▪
the language used to frame the legal ~s
▪ reiterate , repeat
▪ bolster , buttress , illustrate , reinforce , strengthen , support , underline
▪
Do you have any evidence to support your ~?
▪ consider , hear , listen to
▪ address
▪
I'll briefly address each ~.
▪ accept , agree with
▪ dismiss , reject
▪
The company dismissed his ~s as alarmist.
▪ counter , discredit , rebut , refute
▪
She tried to think how to refute the ~ on moral grounds.
▪ demolish , undercut , undermine , weaken
▪ summarize
▪ apply
▪
This ~ can be applied to other contexts.
ARGUMENT + VERB
▪ be based on sth
▪
The government's ~ is always based on how much such a plan would cost.
▪ depend on sth , rely on sth , rest on sth , revolve around sth
▪ boil down to sth
▪
As I see it, his ~ boils down to a combination of two basic points.
▪ go , run
▪
Centralized government, so the ~ goes, is too far removed from the problems of ordinary citizens.
▪ apply (to sth)
▪
The same ~ applies to adoption.
▪ justify sth
▪ support sth
▪ imply sth , suggest sth
▪
These ~s suggest that the medical establishment had an interest in suppressing the research.
▪ show sth
▪ assume sth
PREPOSITION
▪ ~ against
▪
the ~s against lowering taxes
▪ ~ concerning
▪
~s concerning the nature of morality
▪ ~ for
▪
There is a very good ~ for increasing spending.
▪ ~ in favour/favor of
▪
What are the ~s in favour/favor of change?
PHRASES
▪ all sides of an ~ , both sides of an ~
▪
He was able to see both sides of the ~.
▪ a flaw in the ~
▪
I can see no flaw in your ~.
▪ a line of ~
▪
I can see a few problems with this line of ~.