bone of contention

Related to bone of contention: bones

a bone of contention

An unresolved problem, dispute, or disagreement. Jerry leaving his dirty dishes in the sink for days became a bone of contention between him and his roommate.
See also: bone, contention, of
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

bone of contention

Fig. the subject or point of an argument; an unsettled point of disagreement. We've fought for so long that we've forgotten what the bone of contention is. The question of a fence between the houses has become quite a bone of contention.
See also: bone, contention, of
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

bone of contention

Main issue of a disagreement; something to quarrel about. For example, Grandfather's will was a bone of contention for the whole family. This expression alludes to two dogs fighting (contending) over a single bone. In slightly different guise, bone of dissension, it was used figuratively in the 16th century and took its present form in the early 1700s.
See also: bone, contention, of
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

bone of contention

The subject of a dispute.
See also: bone, contention, of
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.

bone of contention, the

The central point of a dispute. The phrase alludes to two dogs fighting over a single bone, and originally was a bone of dissension (“This became a bone of dissension between these deere friends,” William Lambarde, 1576). The current cliché dates from the early eighteenth century, although the metaphor of dogs fighting over a bone had been transferred to human quarrels long before (“The devil hath cast a bone to set stryfe between you,” John Heywood’s Proverbs, 1562).
See also: bone, of
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • a bone of contention
  • contention
  • a difference of opinion
  • (there is) no problem with that
  • bone of contention, the
  • in dispute
  • have a beef with (someone or something)
  • hold out an olive branch
  • hold out an olive branch (to someone)
  • get square with
References in periodicals archive
A major bone of contention is whether Cosimo's patronage was in some sense "princely," a view she takes great pains to refute.
Cosimo de'Medici and the Florentine Renaissance: The Patron's Oeuvre. (Reviews)
Although he returned to inspire his team to an overwhelming win, it is Chelsea's grasp on Wise's playing career that remains the real bone of contention at Stamford Bridge.
Football: Chelsea stroll; CHELSEA...5 PETERBORO'...0
Black English might well remain "the bone of contention" among African Americans--at least until African Americans realize that the stereotyping gaze of stereotyping others does not constitute African American realities.
Critical Essays: Zora Neale Hurston
"This has been a bone of contention among all of us as we've talked over the past several months."
Kansas GOP Voters Remove Creationists From School Board
The company's board voted to remove artistic director Ron Protas, whose presence has been a bone of contention almost since he first began working with Graham and her company in the 1970s.
The High Cost of Conflict
The massacre, committed by the Imperial Japanese Army, remains a bone of contention between Japan and China.
Chinese minister queries Japan court's Nanjing ruling
Birstein and his colleagues raise a bone of contention by arguing that high demand has prompted unscrupulous suppliers to mix eggs of inferior species with those of finer caviar.
DNA fingerprinting to track caviar
It's a bone of contention on which he chomps everywhere.
Keith Haring Journals
On the contrary, the "bone of contention of many Islamist movements is their critique of oppressive social and political reality as well as [a] passive and subdued intellectual environment" (p.53).
Intellectual Origins of Islamic Resurgence in the Modern Arab World
Your last will and testament need not be a bone of contention. You can preserve your wealth for your heirs and protect it from taxation, creditors and unnecessary legal contests by opting for intervivos, or living trusts.
What are intervivos trusts? They may be the answer for people looking to protect their wealth
Some companies have been charged - and rightfully so in some limited cases - with unfair claims processing, or what we call "post-claim underwriting." This continues to be a bone of contention, but it is not nearly as widespread as it once was, thanks to the NAIC model legislation and state adaptations.
What to tell people about long-term care insurance
The Deputy Commissioner assured the elders from both sides of resolving the bone of contention between the two sides which so far had claimed over a dozen of innocent lives.
Police register cases against 19 accused in DIKhan incident
The appointment of the MD as well as the Board of Directors of the state-run television had been a bone of contention between former information minister Fawad Chaudhry and Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Political affairs Naeemul Haq.
PTV gets Aamer Manzoor as new MD
ISLAMABAD -- Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Gilani has said that Kashmir is the bone of contention between Pakistan and India since the creation of the two countries in 1947.
Syed Ali Gilani terms Imran Khan's statement as realistic
The bone of contention immediately could not be ascertained till evening.
A villager shot dead