to quibble (about)

  • 1quibble — I n. a minor quibble II v. (D; intr.) to quibble about, over; with (to quibble about trifles) * * * [ kwɪb(ə)l] over with (to quibble about trifles) (D; intr.) to quibble about a minor quibble …

    Combinatory dictionary

  • 2quibble — quib|ble1 [ˈkwıbəl] v to argue about small unimportant details quibble about/over ▪ Let s not quibble over minor details. quibble 2 quibble2 [i]n [Date: 1600 1700; Origin: Probably from quib quibble (16 17 centuries), probably from Latin quibus… …

    Dictionary of contemporary English

  • 3quibble — 1 verb (intransitive + over/about) to argue about small points or details that are completely unimportant: Don t quibble about the money just pay what she asks. 2 noun (C) a small complaint or criticism about something very unimportant: I have… …

    Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • 4quibble — /ˈkwɪbəl / (say kwibuhl) noun 1. a use of ambiguous, prevaricating, or irrelevant language or arguments to evade a point at issue. 2. the use of such arguments. 3. trivial, petty, or carping criticism. –verb (i) (quibbled, quibbling) 4. to evade… …

  • 5quibble — [n] objection, complaint artifice, cavil, criticism, dodge, duplicity, equivocation, evasion, hair splitter*, nicety, niggle*, nit picker*, pretense, prevarication, protest, quiddity, quirk, shift, sophism, subterfuge, subtlety; concepts 46,52… …

    New thesaurus

  • 6quibble — ► NOUN 1) a slight objection or criticism. 2) archaic a pun. ► VERB ▪ argue about a trivial matter. ORIGIN from obsolete quib «a petty objection», probably from Latin quibus, from qui, quae, quod who, what, which , frequently used in legal… …

    English terms dictionary

  • 7quibble — [[t]kwɪ̱b(ə)l[/t]] quibbles, quibbling, quibbled 1) V RECIP When people quibble over a small matter, they argue about it even though it is not important. [V over/about/with n] Council members spent the day quibbling over the final wording of the… …

    English dictionary

  • 8quibble — I UK [ˈkwɪb(ə)l] / US verb [intransitive] Word forms quibble : present tense I/you/we/they quibble he/she/it quibbles present participle quibbling past tense quibbled past participle quibbled to argue or complain about something that is not… …

    English dictionary

  • 9quibble — quib|ble1 [ kwıbl ] verb intransitive to argue or complain about things that are not important quibble quib|ble 2 [ kwıbl ] noun count a complaint or criticism about something that is not important …

    Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • 10quibble — 1. noun I have just one quibble Syn: criticism, objection, complaint, protest, argument, exception, grumble, grouse, cavil; informal beef, gripe, moan 2. verb no one quibbled with the title Syn: object to, find fa …

    Thesaurus of popular words