quibbled; quibbling
ˈkwi-b(ə-)liŋ 
1
: to evade the point of an argument by caviling about words
: to subject to quibbles
1
: an evasion of or shift from the point
2
: a minor objection or criticism
Did you know?
Quibble is most familiar as a verb, but it can also function as a noun meaning "an evasion of or shift from the point" and "a minor objection or criticism." Both forms of quibble settled into English in the mid-17th century, presumably (though not definitively) as a diminutive of a now-obsolete noun quib, meaning “quibble.” Quib in turn may have come from a form of Latin qui, meaning “who,” a distant relation also of our word who.
Examples of quibble in a Sentence
Verb
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
Noun
Our only quibble about the trip was that it rained a lot.
Recent Examples on the Web
Kim Velsey, Curbed, 8 Oct. 2024
And who’s going to quibble with him on his very own social-media platform, never mind that this week of polling shows, like all the other weeks, that Harris is (very) narrowly beating him.
—Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2024
Seth Eli Barlow, arkansasonline.com, 6 Nov. 2024
The only thing missing is an Ethernet port, but that’s a minor quibble.
—PCMAG, 13 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for quibble 
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Verb
There’s wall-to-wall carpet (with hardwood underneath), the living and dining room are on the dark side with only one window for a large space, and the kitchen is a bit cramped, with older, basic appliances, but there’s not much else to quibble with.
—Kim Velsey, Curbed, 8 Oct. 2024
And who’s going to quibble with him on his very own social-media platform, never mind that this week of polling shows, like all the other weeks, that Harris is (very) narrowly beating him.
—Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2024
Noun
Send your wine questions and quibbles to sethebarlowwine@gmail.com Support journalism that digs deeper into topics that matter most to Arkansans.
—Seth Eli Barlow, arkansasonline.com, 6 Nov. 2024
The only thing missing is an Ethernet port, but that’s a minor quibble.
—PCMAG, 13 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for quibble
Dictionary Entries Near quibble
Cite this Entry
“Quibble.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quibble. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
quibble
1 of 2 verb
quib·ble
ˈkwib-əl
quibbled; quibbling
-(ə-)liŋ
1
: to talk about unimportant things rather than the real point
stop quibbling about words and tell what happened
2
: to find fault or argue over unimportant points
people ignored the main point of the speech and quibbled about its length
quibble
2 of 2 noun1
: a statement that deals with a minor matter and not the real point under discussion
2
: a minor objection or criticism
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