confrontation

1. The act of confronting or the state of being confronted, especially a meeting face to face.
2. a. A conflict involving armed forces: a nuclear confrontation.
   b. Discord or a clash of opinions and ideas: an age of ideological confrontation.
3. A focused comparison: an essay that brought elements of biography, autobiography, and general European history into powerful, meaningful confrontation.

Related Forms:

• conˌfron·taˈtion·al adjective

• conˌfron·taˈtion·ist noun