squabble
Plural: squabbles
Noun
- a quarrel about petty points
- A minor fight or argument.
Verb
Verb Forms: squabbled, squabbling, squabbles
- To engage in a petty quarrel or argument.
- argue over petty things
- To participate in a minor fight or argument; to quarrel.
- To disarrange, so that the letters or lines stand awry and require readjustment.
Examples
- Players often squabble over the validity of obscure words in Scrabble.
- The brothers were always squabbling with each other.
- The children got into a squabble about who should ride in the front of the car.
- to squabble type
Origin / Etymology
The noun form first appears c. 1602, while the verbal form first appears c. 1616. Probably of North Germanic origin and ultimately imitative.
Related to Swedish dialectal skvabbel (“a dispute, quarrel, gossip”), Norwegian dialectal skvabba (“to prattle”), German dialectal schwabbeln (“to babble, prattle”), Swedish dialectal skvappa (“to chide, scold”, literally “make a splash”).
Synonyms
bicker, bickering, brabble, fuss, niggle, pettifog, pettifoggery, quibble, spat, tiff, argue, barney, quarrel, row, squabble, wrangle
Scrabble Score: 21
squabble: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordsquabble: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
squabble: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary