Quibble


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When someone quibbles, they are arguing or complaining about something unimportant or largely irrelevant.

To quibble is to raise a trivial objection or criticism; to dwell on something unimportant; to argue about petty things; or to nitpick.

As a noun, a quibble is any such minor objection or unimportant complaint; a quibble can also be an evasion or shift away from the central point of an argument or discussion.

The verb quibble is often used in the phrasal verb ‘quibble over.’

When you quibble over something small, you argue or complain about it even though it is unimportant.

And, the noun quibble is often used in the somewhat redundant term ‘minor quibble.’

Examples Of How to Use Quibble in a Sentence:

From the movie Braveheart, 1995:

“We cannot defeat them.”

“We can, and we will.

We won at Stirling, and still you quibble…”

“There is no point quibbling over 5% equity,” said the investor.

“I have no quibbles with the book, I just wish it wasn’t so overpriced.”

From the movie High Fidelity, 2000:

“I hate to quibble with you, Rob, but Alison married her first boyfriend.”

“I love Amazon’s no quibble return policy.”

“We quibble over the silliest things, like the definition of barbeque. But what do you expect after such a long marriage?”

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