bone of contention

bone of contention

noun
a subject, cause, or focal point of a dispute: The terms of the old man's will were a bone of contention to his survivors.

Origin:
1705–15
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Bone of contention is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
Collins
World English Dictionary
bone of contention
 
n
the grounds or subject of a dispute

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

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.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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