Meaning
The central subject or cause of a continuing dispute between people or groups. It names the issue that keeps a quarrel alive - a clause in a contract, a sum of money, a boundary line - rather than the quarrel itself, and it suits negotiations, politics, and family arguments alike. Neutral to slightly formal; almost always collocates with disputes, talks, wills, and negotiations. Regional use: General English.
Origin
The image is of two dogs fighting over a single bone, and bone idioms were familiar in early English: one compilation records a mid-1400s use of 'finding bones' for raising objections. The figurative 'bone of dissension' was used in the 1500s; William Lambarde wrote in 1576 that a matter 'became a bone of dissension between these deere friends'. The modern wording is first recorded in 1705-15 and was popularised by Henry Fielding's Tom Jones (1749), which speaks of two characters' differences of understanding as 'their principal bone of contention'. The later shift from 'dissension' to 'contention' is a change of Latinate synonym, not of metaphor.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- a major bone of contention
- bone of dissension (earlier historical form)
- the biggest bone of contention
- the main bone of contention
Usage Examples
- The holiday cottage became a bone of contention between the three siblings after their mother died.
- Salary caps remain the main bone of contention in the league's labour talks.
- Councillors have argued for years about the pedestrian zone, and parking permits are still the biggest bone of contention.