arguing

1. To put forth reasons for or against; debate: "It is time to stop arguing tax-rate reductions and to enact them" (Paul Craig Roberts).

2. To attempt to prove by reasoning; maintain or contend: The speaker argued that more immigrants should be admitted to the country.

3. To give evidence of; indicate: "Similarities cannot always be used to argue descent" (Isaac Asimov).

4. To persuade or influence (another), as by presenting reasons: argued the clerk into lowering the price.

1. To put forth reasons for or against something: argued for dismissal of the case; argued against an immediate counterattack.

2. To engage in a quarrel; dispute.

Synonyms: These verbs denote verbal exchange expressing conflict. To argue is to present reasons or facts in order to persuade someone of something: "I am not arguing with you—I am telling you" (James McNeill Whistler).
Quarrel stresses hostility: The children quarreled over whose turn it was to wash the dishes.
Wrangle refers to loud, contentious argument: "audiences . . . who can be overheard wrangling about film facts in restaurants and coffee houses" (Sheila Benson).
Squabble suggests petty or trivial argument: "The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin . . . would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities" (Theodore Roosevelt).
Bicker connotes sharp, persistent, bad-tempered exchange: The senators bickered about the President's tax proposal for weeks. See Also Synonyms at discuss, indicate.