I.
noun
1 discussion
ADJECTIVE
▪ considerable
▪ growing
▪
the growing ~ on school reform
▪ fierce , heated , intense , lively , raging , robust , serious , spirited , vigorous
▪
There has been heated ~ about whether the movie should be allowed.
▪ acrimonious , bitter , contentious
▪
The club started admitting women in 1901 after years of bitter ~.
▪ rational , reasoned
▪
The nature of this book is to provoke reasoned ~.
▪ honest , open
▪
Honest ~ is the foundation of democracy.
▪ continuing , ongoing
▪
the ongoing ~ over American foreign policy
▪ age-old , long-running , long-standing
▪ endless
▪ contemporary , current
▪ broader , wider
▪
You cannot separate unemployment from the wider ~ about the economy.
▪ public
▪
Television actually encourages public ~ about such issues.
▪ national
▪ internal
▪
Efforts to reduce the budget have led to a lot of internal ~ at the studio.
▪ philosophical , political , scientific , theological
▪ academic , intellectual , scholarly
VERB + DEBATE
▪ have
▪ contribute to
▪
Many leading charities have contributed to the ~ on world poverty.
▪ enter , join
▪
He was reluctant to enter the ~ for or against war.
▪ encourage , promote
▪
A healthy society promotes vigorous ~.
▪ fuel , generate , ignite , provoke , spark off , spur , start , stimulate , stir , trigger
▪
This accident has sparked off an intense ~ on road safety.
▪ reignite , rekindle , renew , reopen
▪
The incident has reignited public ~ over the role of teachers.
▪ drive , influence
▪ stifle
▪
He accused the government of trying to stifle ~.
▪ frame , shape
▪
The entire ~ is framed in terms of what you can do to protect yourself.
▪ lose , win
▪
The environmentalists seem to have lost the ~ over the building of this road.
▪ resolve , settle
▪ dominate
▪
Three major issues have dominated the education ~.
▪ shift
▪
These events shifted ~ from economic issues to social ones.
▪ be a matter for , be open to
▪
The benefits of the new law are open to ~.
DEBATE + VERB
▪ occur , take place
▪
A ~ about safety is taking place in schools everywhere.
▪ rage
▪ arise , erupt
▪ centre/center on sth , focus on sth , revolve around sth
▪
The ~ focused on who should pay for the changes.
PREPOSITION
▪ under ~
▪
The issue is still under ~.
▪ ~ about , ~ on , ~ over
▪
the ~ on the environment
▪ ~ among
▪
the ~ among academics
▪ ~ between
▪ ~ surrounding
▪
the ~ surrounding contemporary art
▪ ~ with
PHRASES
▪ the subject of ~
▪
The proposed changes to the law have been the subject of much ~.
2 a formal discussion
ADJECTIVE
▪ brief
▪ lengthy , long
▪ acrimonious , fierce , heated , lively , stormy
▪
a stormy ~ in the House of Commons
▪ televised
▪ congressional , legislative , presidential , vice-presidential ( in the US )
▪
legislative ~s over gay marriage
▪ parliamentary ( in the UK )
▪
a parliamentary ~ on the fishing industry
▪ policy
VERB + DEBATE
▪ have
▪
We had a brief ~ about whether or not to accept the offer.
▪ hold , host
▪
The union holds ~s for students.
▪ participate in , speak in , take part in
▪
Do you ever speak in ~s?
▪ moderate ( esp. AmE )
▪ open
▪
The president will open the ~.
▪ close
▪ lose , win
▪
The government lost the ~ in the House of Commons.
▪
The poll showed that the Democrat won last night's presidential ~.
DEBATE + NOUN
▪ moderator ( AmE )
▪ coach , team (both AmE )
▪ performance ( esp. AmE )
▪
Experts pore over the President's ~ performances.
PREPOSITION
▪ during a/the ~ , in a/the ~
▪ ~ about , ~ on , ~ over
▪
Many of these points were raised during the ~ on prison reform.
II.
verb
ADVERB
▪ fully , properly ( esp. BrE ), seriously , thoroughly
▪ fiercely , hotly , vigorously
▪
The issue is still being hotly ~d.
▪ openly , publicly
▪
The question of security needs to be ~d publicly.
▪ at length , endlessly , extensively
PREPOSITION
▪ with
▪
a presidential candidate debating with his opponent
▪
He sat there debating with himself what to do.
PHRASES
▪ be widely ~d
▪
The report has been widely ~d in the industry.
Debate is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑ congress , ↑ parliament
Debate is used with these nouns as the object: ↑ bill , ↑ issue , ↑ matter , ↑ merit , ↑ motion , ↑ problem , ↑ subject , ↑ topic