SINCE 1828
bickering
noun
bick·er·ing
| \ ˈbi-k(ə-)riŋ
\
\
Definition of bickering
(Entry 1 of 2)
: 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
also, plural
: instances of such quarreling
was tired of listening to their endless bickerings
bickering
adjectiveDefinition of bickering (Entry 2 of 2)
: engaging in or characterized by petty and petulant quarreling
a bickering couple bickering politicians
Examples of bickering in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Now is the time to roll up our sleeves and get the job done — political bickering and partisan posturing do no one any good. — Letter Writers, Twin Cities, "Letters: For people who need medicine to survive, let’s solve this problem now," 9 June 2019 Try to avoid bickering when communication planet Mercury meets warrior planet Mars on Tuesday, June 18. — Randon Rosenbohm, Allure, "What June's Aries Horoscope Predictions Mean for You," 29 May 2019 One page might contain mountaintop epiphanies, off-trail discoveries, weather and trail conditions, speculations about whether a bickering couple would survive the trail ahead and whimsical evaluations of the previous night’s snoring. — New York Times, "At New Zealand Trail Huts, Shelter, Conversation and Community," 14 Feb. 2018 After late communist leader Josip Broz Tito's death in 1980, Yugoslavia started falling apart amid political bickering between its republics. — Chris Lehourites, chicagotribune.com, "Croatia has surpassed the great Yugoslav teams of the past," 12 July 2018 Adam Levine and Blake Shelton are back for more bickering in Season 14. — New York Times, "What’s on TV Monday: ‘Good Girls’ and ‘Rat Film’," 26 Feb. 2018 Dancila will replace Nicolae Badalau, who repeatedly criticized Dragnea for bickering with the previous two premiers. — Andra Timu, Bloomberg.com, "Romania's Ruling-Party Boss Strengthens His Grip on Power," 10 Mar. 2018 Kaufman more often tells us, rather than shows us, that the pair are like a bickering married couple, and even a rivalry plot — one gets more acclaim and attention than the other — feels by the numbers. — Lily Janiak, San Francisco Chronicle, "Glass half empty (or is it half full) in the Marsh’s ‘Two Minds’," 7 May 2018 Of course, three years later Teigen and Kardashian West are now very close friends, so clearly neither the bride nor groom held anything against the couple for bickering on their special day. — Vogue, "Chrissy Teigen and John Legend Got Into a Very Big, Very Relatable Fight at Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's Wedding," 18 Jan. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bickering.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on bickering
What made you want to look up bickering? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
Words for Summer: A Quiz
-
- Which of the following words means “of or relating to summer”?
Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Words at Play
Ask the Editors
Share bickering
Resources for bickering