Conflict - Definition

n 1: an open clash between two opposing groups (or individuals);
"the harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph"--
Thomas Paine; "police tried to control the battle between
the pro- and anti-abortion mobs" [syn: conflict,
struggle, battle]
2: opposition between two simultaneous but incompatible
feelings; "he was immobilized by conflict and indecision"
3: a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course
of a war; "Grant won a decisive victory in the battle of
Chickamauga"; "he lost his romantic ideas about war when he
got into a real engagement" [syn: battle, conflict,
fight, engagement]
4: a state of opposition between persons or ideas or interests;
"his conflict of interest made him ineligible for the post";
"a conflict of loyalties"
5: an incompatibility of dates or events; "he noticed a conflict
in the dates of the two meetings"
6: opposition in a work of drama or fiction between characters
or forces (especially an opposition that motivates the
development of the plot); "this form of conflict is essential
to Mann's writing"
7: a disagreement or argument about something important; "he had
a dispute with his wife"; "there were irreconcilable
differences"; "the familiar conflict between Republicans and
Democrats" [syn: dispute, difference, difference of
opinion, conflict]
v 1: be in conflict; "The two proposals conflict!"
2: go against, as of rules and laws; "He ran afoul of the law";
"This behavior conflicts with our rules" [syn: conflict,
run afoul, infringe, contravene]