bone of contention
/ˈbəʊn əv kənˈtɛnʃən/
"bone-of-contention" is a 16-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bone of contention” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 18
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Something that continues to be disputed; something on which no agreement can be reached.
Corpus desk
Index EN-bone-of-contention · bone of contention · English
bone of contention · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 18 letters
- VOW-7 7 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "B" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bone of contention |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbəʊn əv kənˈtɛnʃən/ |
| Letters | 18 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “bone of contention” in English
Rare enough to double-check
bone of contention is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈbəʊn əv kənˈtɛnʃən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Something that continues to be disputed; something on which no agreement can be reached.".
Zero misspellings are on record for bone of contention in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: A reference to two dogs fighting over the same bone. The correct English form is bone of contention, spelled B-O-N-E- -O-F- -C-O-N-T-E-N-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1Something that continues to be disputed; something on which no agreement can be reached.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how bone of contention appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
It is still a bone of contention whether to go ahead with the original plan in light of the new evidence.
The crossing caused serious congestion with long traffic hold-ups, and had been a bone of contention between the local authorities and the railway for over eighty years. It was controlled from Fletton Road Junction Signalbox (removed at the same time) and, until a wheel was installed in 1920, required two gatemen on each turn of duty.
Etymology
A reference to two dogs fighting over the same bone.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.