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quibble

   Also found in: Legal, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.04 sec.
quib·ble  (kwbl)
intr.v. quib·bled, quib·bling, quib·bles
1. To evade the truth or importance of an issue by raising trivial distinctions and objections.
2. To find fault or criticize for petty reasons; cavil.
n.
1. A petty distinction or an irrelevant objection.
2. Archaic A pun.

[Probably diminutive of obsolete quib, equivocation, perhaps from Latin quibus, dative and ablative pl. of qu, who, what (from its frequent use in legal documents); see kwo- in Indo-European roots.]

quibbler n.
Synonyms: quibble, carp1, cavil, niggle, nitpick, pettifog
These verbs mean to raise petty or frivolous objections or complaints: quibbling about minor details; a critic who constantly carped; caviling about the price of coffee; an editor who niggled about commas; tried to stop nitpicking all the time; pettifogging about trivialities.

quibble
Verb
[-bling, -bled]
to make trivial objections
Noun
1. a trivial objection or equivocation, esp. one used to avoid an issue
2. Archaic a pun [origin unknown]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.quibble - an evasion of the point of an argument by raising irrelevant distinctions or objections
equivocation, evasion - a statement that is not literally false but that cleverly avoids an unpleasant truth
Verb1.quibble - evade the truth of a point or question by raising irrelevant objections
evade, hedge, sidestep, skirt, parry, fudge, circumvent, dodge, elude, duck, put off - avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues); "He dodged the issue"; "she skirted the problem"; "They tend to evade their responsibilities"; "he evaded the questions skillfully"
2.quibble - argue over petty things; "Let's not quibble over pennies"
argue, contend, debate, fence - have an argument about something

quibble
verb 1. split hairs, carp, cavil, prevaricate, beat about the bush, equivocate
Translations
quibble [ˈkwɪbl] viandarse con sutilezas
quibble [ˈkwɪbl] viergoter, chicaner
quibble [ˈkwɪbl] vi to quibble about or over → sich streiten über +acc;
to quibble with → herumnörgeln an +dat nKrittelei f
quibble [ˈkwɪbl] vicavillare


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
Had he any prescience of the day, five years to come, when Josiah Bounderby of Coketown was to die of a fit in the Coketown street, and this same precious will was to begin its long career of quibble, plunder, false pretences, vile example, little service and much law?
Act as if I was-- shut my mouth up, tell me not to commit myself, keep circumstances back, chop the evidence small, quibble, and get me off perhaps
On the last occasion he had escaped by a forensic quibble and not, as usual, by a private escapade; and it was a question whether at the moment he was amenable to the law or not.
 
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