bick·er·ing
ˈbi-k(ə-)riŋ 
: petty and petulant quarreling especially when prolonged or habitual
… said his own bosses, through their persistent bickering, had made his job practically impossible.—
Ronald Scott
Ronald Scott
also, bickerings plural
: instances of such quarreling
was tired of listening to their endless bickerings
: engaging in or characterized by petty and petulant quarreling
a bickering couple
bickering politicians
Examples of bickering in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebElisabeth Buchwald, CNN, 20 Mar. 2024
What followed was a whole bunch of messy bickering in the press.
—Charlotte Walsh, Vulture, 14 Mar. 2024
Another seven brutal pages of intertribal bickering occur before the amtal rule is put into effect so Paul and Jamis can start swinging blades.
—Max Evry, WIRED, 4 Mar. 2024
He’s tried, with limited success, to break through the bickering with his message about elevating tribal issues and the importance of environmental stewardship and universal healthcare.
—Hannah Wiley, Los Angeles Times, 29 Feb. 2024
The bickering went on for another 15 to 20 minutes, as the two sides fought over whether and how to replay an excerpt of the interrogation video.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 29 Feb. 2024
The bickering occurred at a meeting in which the board earlier approved a plan to transition the college-style block schedule used at the middle schools to a hybrid six-period school day for the coming school year.
—Cynthia Howell, arkansasonline.com, 23 Feb. 2024
Everyone is exhausted with the fear-mongering and immature social media bickering of most politicians these days.
—Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 Feb. 2024
After a month-long trial, a federal judge in 2021 rejected most of Epic's claims in a ruling that withstood appeals, but the bickering with Apple has continued.
—Michael Liedtke, Quartz, 8 Mar. 2024
Whitney Friedlander, Los Angeles Times, 29 Feb. 2024
The two exes have a drink in her hotel room, cancel on their dates, never realizing the truth, and wind up successfully counseling a bickering couple in the next room over.
—Jp Mangalindan, Peoplemag, 15 Nov. 2023
The best part of the book is the sweetly complicated relationship at its center, between a bickering Scully-and-Mulderesque pair of operatives hired to investigate.
—Sarah Lyall, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2023
The drama turns on two perennially bickering sisters, named Mariam and Noura, whose father dies and unexpectedly leaves a large sum of money in the bank.
—Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 30 June 2023
Holofcener makes great use of David Cross and Amber Tamblyn as a bickering couple that Don is treating, quite unsuccessfully, it should be noted.
—Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 25 May 2023
Dhawan and Arpita Mukherjee, who worked on the book for this together, have lightly updated the circumstances to the present (the bride and groom have now Zoomed before meeting in person) and kept the polyphonic dialogue where many bickering relatives talk over one another.
—Vulture, 22 May 2023
As their online relationship develops, their in-person bickering intensifies.
—Amy MacKelden, Harper's BAZAAR, 12 Apr. 2023
Largely this led to even more bickering, flame wars, and depressing scenes than before, but in the high-tension days before news outlets called the 2020 US presidential election for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, folks did manage to have some fun at the expense of Nevada.
—Wired Staff, Wired, 16 Dec. 2020
Noun
Often absent from their bickering is the economic impact of immigration.
—Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN, 20 Mar. 2024
What followed was a whole bunch of messy bickering in the press.
—Charlotte Walsh, Vulture, 14 Mar. 2024
Another seven brutal pages of intertribal bickering occur before the amtal rule is put into effect so Paul and Jamis can start swinging blades.
—Max Evry, WIRED, 4 Mar. 2024
He’s tried, with limited success, to break through the bickering with his message about elevating tribal issues and the importance of environmental stewardship and universal healthcare.
—Hannah Wiley, Los Angeles Times, 29 Feb. 2024
The bickering went on for another 15 to 20 minutes, as the two sides fought over whether and how to replay an excerpt of the interrogation video.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 29 Feb. 2024
The bickering occurred at a meeting in which the board earlier approved a plan to transition the college-style block schedule used at the middle schools to a hybrid six-period school day for the coming school year.
—Cynthia Howell, arkansasonline.com, 23 Feb. 2024
Everyone is exhausted with the fear-mongering and immature social media bickering of most politicians these days.
—Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 Feb. 2024
After a month-long trial, a federal judge in 2021 rejected most of Epic's claims in a ruling that withstood appeals, but the bickering with Apple has continued.
—Michael Liedtke, Quartz, 8 Mar. 2024
Adjective
From the first episode of the show, when Lewis’ version of himself screams at David’s heightened version of himself for not liking his girlfriend, the men are the bickering old marrieds that the show deserved.
—Whitney Friedlander, Los Angeles Times, 29 Feb. 2024
The two exes have a drink in her hotel room, cancel on their dates, never realizing the truth, and wind up successfully counseling a bickering couple in the next room over.
—Jp Mangalindan, Peoplemag, 15 Nov. 2023
The best part of the book is the sweetly complicated relationship at its center, between a bickering Scully-and-Mulderesque pair of operatives hired to investigate.
—Sarah Lyall, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2023
The drama turns on two perennially bickering sisters, named Mariam and Noura, whose father dies and unexpectedly leaves a large sum of money in the bank.
—Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 30 June 2023
Holofcener makes great use of David Cross and Amber Tamblyn as a bickering couple that Don is treating, quite unsuccessfully, it should be noted.
—Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 25 May 2023
Dhawan and Arpita Mukherjee, who worked on the book for this together, have lightly updated the circumstances to the present (the bride and groom have now Zoomed before meeting in person) and kept the polyphonic dialogue where many bickering relatives talk over one another.
—Vulture, 22 May 2023
As their online relationship develops, their in-person bickering intensifies.
—Amy MacKelden, Harper's BAZAAR, 12 Apr. 2023
Largely this led to even more bickering, flame wars, and depressing scenes than before, but in the high-tension days before news outlets called the 2020 US presidential election for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, folks did manage to have some fun at the expense of Nevada.
—Wired Staff, Wired, 16 Dec. 2020
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bickering.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Bickering.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bickering. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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