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he spent the entire evening quibbling about the historical inaccuracies in the television series on World War II
don't quibble over who gets to sit in front
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'quibble.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Quibble can also be a noun meaning "an evasion of or shift from the point" or "a minor objection or criticism." Both forms of the word arrived in English in the mid-17th century. Presumably (though not certainly) quibble originated as a diminutive of a now obsolete word, quib, which also meant "quibble." In fact, although language experts may quibble over this, there is a possibility that quib can be traced back to the plural of the Latin word qui, meaning "who," which was often used in legal documents. If so, that makes quibble a very distant cousin of the English word who.
1665
Our only quibble about the trip was that it rained a lot.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'quibble.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use: 1650
in the meaning defined at sense 1
See Words from the same year: to argue or complain about small, unimportant things
: a small complaint or criticism usually about something unimportant
See words that rhyme with quibble Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for quibble Spanish Central: Translation of quibble Nglish: Translation of quibble for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of quibble for Arabic speakers
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