as in bickered
to express different opinions about something often angrily
the children squabbled loudly over who got to play with the toy first
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Recent Examples of squabbled
Late risers in pajamas walked their dogs, two men squabbled over a parking spot, and neighbors and shopkeepers went about their routines.
—
Alaa Elassar, CNN Money, 27 Oct. 2025
The parties have squabbled over the lawsuit's jurisdiction for months.
—Kinsey Crowley, USA Today, 19 Sep. 2025
Awarded a second-half penalty against Bremen, Patrik Schick and Exequiel Palacios squabbled over who should take it, in a cliche of team dysfunction.
—Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2025
Alaa Elassar, CNN Money, 27 Oct. 2025
The parties have squabbled over the lawsuit's jurisdiction for months.
—Kinsey Crowley, USA Today, 19 Sep. 2025
Awarded a second-half penalty against Bremen, Patrik Schick and Exequiel Palacios squabbled over who should take it, in a cliche of team dysfunction.
—Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for squabbled
Verb
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On 33 occasions since 2017, Congress has been forced to pass emergency extensions to the flood insurance program, as lawmakers bickered over budgets and looming shutdowns threatened to disrupt it, according to a letter the National Association of Realtors sent to Congress ahead of the shutdown.—
Rukmini Callimachi,
New York Times,
9 Oct. 2025
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In recent years, the companies have bickered about the rise of streaming services, in which the media companies are investing billions of dollars and which lure away cable and satellite customers.—
Brian Steinberg,
Variety,
26 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Cotton argued the shutdown’s cause was not the expiring health care subsidies, but rather Democrats’ fear of blowback from their supporters.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
11 Nov. 2025
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Nardin argued for a change in the mindset that automatically favors large-scale production of a single product.—
Jeff Young,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Mayor Sue Finkam found the dollars to quell many concerns from city councilors about the budget, but officials still quarreled over the transparency of some dollars earmarked for Carmel’s legal department.—
Jake Allen,
IndyStar,
22 Oct. 2025
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Franklin’s son and grandson quarreled.—
Stacy Schiff,
The Atlantic,
8 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Players fought, fought, fought, gave us every chance in the world.—
Maddie Hartley,
Kansas City Star,
9 Nov. 2025
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Germany and France fought centuries of bloody wars before becoming the bedrock of the European Union.—
Jon Medved,
semafor.com,
7 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Squabbled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/squabbled. Accessed 13 Nov. 2025.
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