Argument: meaning, definitions and examples

Used in a logical context where someone presents reasons to support a claim or position.

• His argument for the new policy was very convincing.
• In her essay, she provided a well-structured argument for renewable energy.

Used when describing the process of thinking through something logically to form a conclusion or judgment.

• Her reasoning for choosing that school was based on its excellent reputation.
• The judge’s reasoning was clearly outlined in the verdict.

Used to explain the underlying reasons or principles behind a decision, idea, or action. It is often more formal and less confrontational than 'argument' or 'justification'.

• The rationale behind the new policy is to improve efficiency.
• He explained the rationale for his approach during the presentation.

Used when someone is trying to explain or defend their actions, decisions, or beliefs, typically to show that they are reasonable or necessary.

• She offered a justification for her late arrival to the meeting.
• The company’s justification for the price increase was the rising cost of materials.

Used in programming to refer to values or references passed to functions or methods when they are called.

• Pass the number of items as the first argument to the function
• The function takes two arguments: a string and an integer

Commonly found in mathematics, statistics, and programming, denoting a value that influences a system or function but is not a variable in the strict sense.

• Adjust the parameters of the model to improve predictions
• The function requires two parameters: a starting value and a step size

Often used in mathematics, statistics, or programming to describe a quantity that can change or take on different values.

• Define a variable to store the user's input
• The experiment measured how the variable 'temperature' affected the growth rate of plants

Use when referring to a heated or disagreeing discussion where people express different opinions, often angrily.

• They had a big argument about who should take out the trash.
• The argument between the two friends escalated quickly.

Use when referring to a formal discussion on a particular topic, where opposing arguments are put forward.

• The debate over climate change has been going on for years.
• They had a friendly debate about the best way to cook pasta.

Use when referring to talking about something in detail, often in a calm and constructive way.

• Let's discuss our plans for the weekend.
• We need to discuss the new project with the team.

Use when someone is making a strong claim or assertion, often in a competitive or argumentative manner.

• The lawyer contended that his client was innocent.
• He contended that the policy would harm small businesses.