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quibble was our Word of the Day on 12/05/2013. Hear the podcast!
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Examples of quibble in a Sentence
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
Recent Examples of quibble from the Web
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Pedants will quibble that the book is built on individual themes that others have looked at more deeply.
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In other words: People mustn’t quibble with her version of reality, and anyone who does so is angry, which is a favorite Millennial method for sliming your detractors as not-nice.
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The White House is quibbling — anonymously — with the idea that Trump accepted Putin's denial.
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Quibbling over adjectives aside, Apple's certainly correct that iOS 11 has a lot to offer iPad users.
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Many of the region’s rulers conflate political Islam with Islamic terrorism, justifying crackdowns on dissent — and the new administration seems to not quibble with this.
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It’s hard to imagine any Democrat quibbling with that message—at least as part of their midterm argument—or objecting to the type of early and aggressive fundraising Emanuel employed in 2006.
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Some may quibble with Comey's choice of tactics, but what is indisputable is that yet again President Trump had hurt his presidency with a tweet.
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But players more au courant will find things to quibble with.
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.
Did You Know?
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.
First Known Use of quibble
1665
quibble
Definition of quibble
1 : an evasion of or shift from the point
2 : a minor objection or criticism
Examples of quibble in a Sentence
Our only quibble about the trip was that it rained a lot.
Recent Examples of quibble from the Web
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The only stumble here is the lack of image diversity in the job deck, but that's a minor quibble when compared to the exceptional table presence the rest of the components possess.
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Our only quibble is a rear seat that’s more cozy than commodious for passengers of average height.
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Here is my story: My only quibble is how quickly things break down afterward.
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Our only quibble with LBB’s ambiance arose on our first visit, when rock and reggae played on the sound system.
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The only quibble that can be made is that there might have been a little more imagination applied.
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But the president’s inability to spell correctly is a quibble compared to his ignorance of Civics 101.
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Quibbles aside, however, the main goal of this piece is to offer a fun glimpse of sides of Led Zeppelin that often go overlooked: the cheeky side, the adventurous, the soulful, the wistful.
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The bracket produced more small quibbles than true blockbusters.
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.
Origin and Etymology of quibble
probably diminutive of obsolete quib quibble
QUIBBLE Defined for English Language Learners
quibble
playDefinition of quibble for English Language Learners
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: to argue or complain about small, unimportant things
quibble
Definition of quibble for English Language Learners
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: a small complaint or criticism usually about something unimportant
QUIBBLE Defined for Kids
Definition of quibble for Students
quibbled
;quibbling
: to argue or complain about small and unimportant things
Definition of quibble for Students
: a small and usually unimportant complaint, criticism, or argument
Learn More about quibble
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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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