Cavils
to raise irritating and trivial objections; find fault with unnecessarily (usually followed by at or about):
He finds something to cavil at in everything I say.
to oppose by inconsequential, frivolous, or sham objections:
to cavil each item of a proposed agenda.
a trivial and annoying objection.
the raising of such objections.
Historical Examples
verb -ils, -illing, -illed (US) -ils, -iling, -iled
(intransitive; foll by at or about) to raise annoying petty objections; quibble; carp
noun
a captious trifling objection
v.
1540s, from Middle French caviller “to mock, jest,” from Latin cavillari “to jeer, mock; satirize, argue scoffingly” (also source of Italian cavillare, Spanish cavilar), from cavilla “jest, jeering,” related to calumnia (see calumny).
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to raise irritating and trivial objections; find fault with unnecessarily (usually followed by at or about): He finds something to cavil at in everything I say. to oppose by inconsequential, frivolous, or sham objections: to cavil each item of a proposed agenda. a trivial and annoying objection. the raising of such objections. Historical Examples verb […]
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Frederick, 1839–1927, Australian swimmer and coach, born in England: developed the Australian crawl. his son, Sydney St. Leonards [len-erdz] /ˈlɛn ərdz/ (Show IPA), died 1945, Australian-American swimmer and coach: developed the butterfly stroke. Contemporary Examples Historical Examples
- Caviller
to raise irritating and trivial objections; find fault with unnecessarily (usually followed by at or about): He finds something to cavil at in everything I say. to oppose by inconsequential, frivolous, or sham objections: to cavil each item of a proposed agenda. a trivial and annoying objection. the raising of such objections. Historical Examples verb […]
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to raise irritating and trivial objections; find fault with unnecessarily (usually followed by at or about): He finds something to cavil at in everything I say. to oppose by inconsequential, frivolous, or sham objections: to cavil each item of a proposed agenda. a trivial and annoying objection. the raising of such objections. Historical Examples verb […]
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spelunking. a hollow in the earth, especially one opening more or less horizontally into a hill, mountain, etc. a storage cellar, especially for wine. English History. a secession, or a group of seceders, from a political party on some special question. to hollow out. Mining. to cause (overlying material) to fall into a stope, sublevel, […]