squabble
Definitions
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WordNet 3.6
- v squabble argue over petty things "Let's not quibble over pennies"
- n squabble a quarrel about petty points
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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- n Squabble A scuffle; a wrangle; a brawl.
- Squabble To contend for superiority in an unseemly manner; to scuffle; to struggle; to wrangle; to quarrel.
- Squabble To debate peevishly; to dispute. "The sense of these propositions is very plain, though logicians might squabble a whole day whether they should rank them under negative or affirmative."
- v. t Squabble (Print) To disarrange, so that the letters or lines stand awry or are mixed and need careful readjustment; -- said of type that has been set up.
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Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
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- squabble To engage in a noisy quarrel or row; wrangle; quarrel and fight noisily; brawl; scuffle.
- squabble Synonyms To jangle. See quarrel, n.
- squabble In printing, to disarrange andmix (lines of composed types) when they are standing on their feet.
- n squabble A wrangle; a dispute; a brawl; a scuffle; a noisy quarrel.
- n squabble Synonyms Brawl, Wrangle, etc. See quarrel.
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Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
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- v.i Squabble skwob′l to dispute in a noisy manner: to wrangle
- n Squabble a noisy, petty quarrel: a brawl
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Quotations
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“The eagle has ceased to scream, but the parrots will now begin to chatter. The war of the giants is over and the pigmies will now start to squabble.”
Etymology
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
Cf. dial. Sw. skvabbel, a dispute, skvappa, to chide
Usage
In literature:
Knowing our inferiority I submit without a grumble; but I am not sure that I care to go and listen to the squabbles of my masters.
"Phineas Redux" by Anthony Trollope
We squabbled for a while until I saw the significance of her attitude.
"In Search of the Unknown" by Robert W. Chambers
When he had fought Lars Larssen, it was not a mere petty squabble over a division of loot.
"Swirling Waters" by Max Rittenberg
The American variety, she said, were immersed in mere domesticity or social schemes and squabbles.
"Franklin Kane" by Anne Douglas Sedgwick
Brought up among girls, she was too much used to such squabbles to take them to heart.
"Jane Allen: Right Guard" by Edith Bancroft
I am not insinuating that there is any sectarian squabbling.
"Disturbed Ireland" by Bernard H. Becker
All our squabbles have been about that.
"Lady Larkspur" by Meredith Nicholson
I don't know why military people are always squabbling like the women in an old ladies' home.
"Captain Jinks, Hero" by Ernest Crosby
We had a good many squabbles about this period.
"Six to Sixteen" by Juliana Horatia Ewing
We all fluttered and squabbled for the first chance at the food.
"Among the Farmyard People" by Clara Dillingham Pierson
And they fought and squabbled what they should do with her, till a pale gray light began to come in the sky; and it drew nigh the dawning.
"Tales of Wonder Every Child Should Know" by Various
But these heraldic conversations bored Mary even more intensely than the squabbles.
"The Guests Of Hercules" by C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson
Is your blind brother a prize worth squabbling over?
"Everyman's Land" by C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson
Between themselves, I may say, they squabbled systematically, and were never either friends or enemies for two days together.
"A Flat Iron for a Farthing" by Juliana Horatia Ewing
While, finally, the squabbling for nuts and apples (called in Italy "bella liberta") goes on all day long.
"A Joy For Ever" by John Ruskin
We must not reduce a great human problem to a squabble over pocket-money.
"Home Rule" by Harold Spender
Clash followed clash; there came sneers, tears, squabbles, rows, and at last practical banishment.
"Under Fire" by Charles King
I didn't know but you'd got mixed up an' done for in some of them squabbles.
"The Eagle's Heart" by Hamlin Garland
Don't let a squabble with a schoolboy who hasn't learned manners spoil your supper.
"Brownsmith's Boy" by George Manville Fenn
They rushed in, squabbling among themselves.
"Great African Travellers" by W.H.G. Kingston
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In poetry:
From Bluff to Cape Maria New Zealand is agreed;
She thanks her Representatives for generous thought and deed.
She turns with joy from squabbles - from Party's petty aim -
To feel she still has statesman well worthy of the name.
She thanks her Representatives for generous thought and deed.
She turns with joy from squabbles - from Party's petty aim -
To feel she still has statesman well worthy of the name.
"The Transvaal Contingent" by Anonymous Oceania
In news:
Voters Stay Home Over Political Squabbles.
To head off turkey-table squabbles, Fiebert suggested establishing etiquette for gatherings if the potential for tension is there.
Supercomputer rankings give them something else to squabble about.
(AP) — When squabbling between Louisiana's Democratic governor and the Republican Bush administration delayed some troops getting to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, many blamed raw politics.
A Hood Canal man witnessed an unusual squabble between an eagle and a seagull .
Repeatedly, he asked the voters to settle Washington's squabbles in his favor.
Candidates squabble over political signs .
Squabbles in the South China Sea .
A Little Fashion Squabble .
Election Night Squabble Under Review.
Pols squabble for Weiner seat.
WBRE-TV debuts across the nation amid squabble .
Squabble over City Grill reward fund.
When they looked outside, it turned out to be a group of squabbling turkeys.
Squabble trips up meth lab.
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