argue

From Middle English arguen, from Old French arguer, from Latin arguere (“to declare, show, prove, make clear, reprove, accuse”), q.v. for more. Displaced native Old English flītan and reċċan.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɑː.ɡjuː/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɑɹ.ɡju/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)ɡju

argue (third-person singular simple present argues, present participle arguing, simple past and past participle argued)

1. To show grounds for concluding (that); to indicate, imply.

   The new increase in crime argues for even tougher jail sentences, according to some.

   • 1910, Saki , “The Soul of Laploshka”, in Reginald in Russia and Other Sketches, London: Methuen & Co. , →OCLC, page 69:

     To have killed Laploshka was one thing; to have kept his beloved money would have argued a callousness of feeling of which I was not capable.

   • 1997, Rufa'i Ahmed Alkali, The World Bank and Nigeria, page 10:

     Yusuf Bangura argues that the contractocracy thesis merely falls within what he called "third option" explanation.

2. (intransitive) To debate, disagree, or discuss opposing or differing viewpoints; to controvert; to wrangle.

   Synonym: submit

   He also argued for stronger methods to be used against China.

   He argued as follows: America should stop Lend-Lease convoying, because it needs to fortify its own Army with the supplies.

   The two boys argued over a disagreement about the science project.

   • 2022 October 28, Charles Hugh Smith, What Does Liberation Mean in the Real World?‎:

     There is no arguing with true believers in any ideology or arrangement in which the self-interest of those in power is the organizing principle of the system.

3. (intransitive) To have an argument, a quarrel.
4. (transitive) To present (a viewpoint or an argument therefor).

   He argued his point.

   He argued that America should stop Lend-Lease convoying because it needed to fortify its own Army with the supplies.

   • 2008 November 24, Giles Fraser, “On the Genealogy of Morals, part 5: Breaking the cycle of conflict”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     Nonetheless, Girard argues, the very fact that Christians have chosen to forgive and thus not to answer violence directly with violence is itself already a huge victory.

   • 2018, Kristin Lawless, Formerly known as food, →ISBN, page 192:

     Food manufacturers would argue that food additives and chemical-laden packaging extend shelf life, keep food production costs down, and enhance flavors; chemical manufacturers would argue that their various pesticides and herbicides protect crops and help farmers.

   • 2018 December 1, Drachinifel, 9:45 from the start, in Anti-Slavery Patrols - The West Africa Squadron‎, archived from the original on 29 November 2024:

     After his actions were challenged by foreign governments and Parliament initially tried to put a stop to his action, Denman returned home and argued his case with enough force that, by 1848, the Royal Navy was handed active permission and encouragement to raze every last slave factory they could find to the ground, and full authority to stop any ship, of any flag, that was thought to be a slaver, with a guarantee with no censure from the government.

5. (obsolete, transitive) To prove.
6. (obsolete, transitive) To accuse.

• argument
• argumentative
• argumentation

• “argue”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E Smith, editors (1911), “argue”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

• Auger, Gauer, Graue, auger, augre, rugae

Inherited from Latin *arganum (“capstan”), variation of organum (“instrument, tool”).

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencia)

argue m (plural argues)

1. winch, windlass

• arganell
• àrguens
• òrgan

• “argue”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies , 2007 April

• 丫撬 (aa¹ giu⁴)

From English argue. Doublet of 拗撬 (aau³ giu⁶).

argue

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) to argue

   • 我唔敢同佢argue架

     From: 2021, Adrian Blackledge and Angela Creese, Recontextualisation and advocacy in the translation zone, Text & Talk, volume 41, number 1, page 14

     ngo⁵ m⁴ gam² tung⁴ keoi⁵ aa¹ giu⁴ gaa³

     I don't dare argue with him

• English Loanwords in Hong Kong Cantonese

• IPA^(key): /aʁ.ɡy/

• Audio:

  (file)

argue

1. inflection of arguer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

• auger, Auger
• urgea

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key):
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key):

argue

1. second-person singular present active imperative of arguō