conflict

conflict
    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}]
    

Conflict \Con"flict\, n. [L. conflictus a striking together, fr.
   confligere, -flictum, to strike together, to fight: cf. F.
   conflit, formerly also conflict. See {Conflict}, v.]
   1. A striking or dashing together; violent collision; as, a
      conflict of elements or waves.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A strife for the mastery; hostile contest; battle;
      struggle; fighting.
      [1913 Webster]

            As soon as he [Atterbury] was himself again, he
            became eager for action and conflict. --Macaulay.
      [1913 Webster]

            An irrepressible conflict between opposing and
            enduring forces.                      --W. H.
                                                  Seward.
      [1913 Webster]

   {Conflict of laws}, that branch of jurisprudence which deals
      with individual litigation claimed to be subject to the
      conflicting laws of two or more states or nations; --
      often used as synonymous with {Private international law}.

   Syn: Contest; collision; struggle; combat; strife;
        contention; battle; fight; encounter. See {Contest}.
        [1913 Webster]
    

Conflict \Con*flict"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Conflicted}; p. pr.
   & vb. n. {Conflicting}.] [L. conflictus, p. p. of confligere
   to conflict (cf. conflictare); con- + fligere to strike; cf.
   Gr. fli`bein, qli`bein, to press, L. flagrum whip.]
   1. To strike or dash together; to meet in violent collision;
      to collide. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

            Fire and water conflicting together.  --Bacon.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To maintain a conflict; to contend; to engage in strife or
      opposition; to struggle.
      [1913 Webster]

            A man would be content to . . . conflict with great
            difficulties, in hopes of a mighty reward. --Abp.
                                                  Tillotson.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To be in opposition; to be contradictory.
      [1913 Webster]

            The laws of the United States and of the individual
            States may, in some cases, conflict with each other.
                                                  --Wheaton.

   Syn: To fight; contend; contest; resist; struggle; combat;
        strive; battle.
        [1913 Webster]
    

CONFLICT. The opposition or difference between two judicial jurisdictions, 
when they both claim the right to decide a cause, or where they both declare 
their incompetency. The first is called a positive conflict, and the, latter 
a negative conflict. 
    

279 Moby Thesaurus words for "conflict":
      Discordia, Eris, Kilkenny cats, action, aerial combat, affray,
      agree to disagree, altercation, ambivalence,
      ambivalence of impulse, antagonism, antagonize, antipathy,
      antithesis, argument, argumentation, armored combat, backlash,
      bad blood, battle, battle royal, be antipathetic,
      be at cross-purposes, be at variance, be distinct,
      be distinguished, be inimical, be opposed to, beat against,
      belligerence, bickering, brawl, break, break off, brush, bullfight,
      cat-and-dog life, clash, clash of arms, clash with, clashing,
      cockfight, collide, collision, combat, competition, concours,
      conflict with, confrontation, confutation, confute, contention,
      contentiousness, contest, contestation, contradict, contradiction,
      contradistinction, contraindication, contrapose, contraposition,
      contrariety, contrariness, contrast, contrast with, contravene,
      controversy, controvert, counter, counteract, counteraction,
      counterattack, counterbalance, countercheck, counterpoise,
      counterpose, counterposition, countervail, counterwork,
      counterworking, crankiness, cross, cross-purposes, crotchetiness,
      cut and thrust, debate, decompensation, depart from,
      despitefulness, deviate from, differ, differ in opinion,
      difference, disaccord, disaccordance, disaffinity, disagree,
      disagree with, disagreement, discord, discordance, discordancy,
      discrepancy, disharmony, disparity, disputation, dispute,
      dissension, dissent, dissidence, dissonance, disturb, disunion,
      disunity, divaricate from, diverge, diverge from, divergence,
      diversity, dogfight, embroilment, emotional shock, emulation,
      engagement, enmity, exchange of blows, external frustration,
      faction, feud, fight, fighting, fire fight, fracas, fractiousness,
      fray, friction, frustration, go against, go counter to, grate,
      ground combat, hand-to-hand combat, hand-to-hand fight, hate,
      hatred, hit a clinker, hold opposite views, hostility,
      house-to-house combat, inaccordance, incompatibility,
      incompatibleness, inconsistency, inequality, inharmoniousness,
      inharmony, inimicalness, interfere, interfere with, interference,
      jangle, jar, jar with, jarring, jostle, juxtapose in opposition,
      kick, litigation, lock horns, logomachy, malevolence, malice,
      malignity, meet, meet head-on, meeting, mental shock,
      militate against, mischief, mismatch, mismate,
      misunderstand one another, naval combat, negate, negation,
      negativeness, nonconformity, noncooperation, not accord with,
      not get along, not square with, object, obstinacy, offset,
      open conflict, oppose, oppositeness, opposition, opposure, oppugn,
      oppugnance, oppugnancy, paper war, passage of arms, perverseness,
      perversity, pitched battle, play at cross-purposes, polarity,
      polemic, psychological stress, pull different ways, quarrel,
      quarreling, quarrelsomeness, reaction, recalcitrance, recoil,
      refractoriness, rencontre, renitency, repercussion, repugnance,
      resist, resistance, revolt, rivalry, row, rub, rumble, run against,
      run counter to, running fight, scramble, scrapping, scrimmage,
      scuffle, set off, shoving match, showdown, skirmish, spat, spite,
      spitefulness, squabble, squabbling, stand apart,
      stand over against, stand-up fight, strained relations,
      street fight, stress, strife, striving, struggle, swim upstream,
      swimming upstream, tauromachy, tension, tiff, trauma, traumatism,
      tug-of-war, tussle, uncooperativeness, unharmoniousness,
      unpleasantness, unstring, untune, variance, vary, vying, war,
      war of words, warfare, words, work against, wrangle, wrangling