squabble
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L328361 on Wikidata ↗verb
- to argue with
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈskwɒbəl/ / /ˈskwɑːbəl/
noun
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”).
- A minor fight or argument.
“The children got into a squabble about who should ride in the front of the car.”
“It was obvious to the inhabitants of the small coastal town of Bridport that in the midst of these squabbles their need for a railway was going to be overlooked, and they decided to take the matter into their own hands.”
verb
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”).
- To participate in a minor fight or argument; to quarrel.
“The brothers were always squabbling with each other.”
“The sense of these propositions is very plain and easy, though logicians might perhaps squabble a whole day whether they should rank them under negative or affirmative.”
- To disarrange, so that the letters or lines stand awry and require readjustment.
“to squabble type”