Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Argumentation; searching debates and reasonings on Talmudic subjects among rabbinical scholars.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Among the Jews, penetrating investigation, disputation, and drawing of conclusions, esp. in Talmudic study.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Sophistry, hair-splitting, quibbling.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Hebrew פלפל

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word pilpul.

Examples

  • The Hebrew word pilpul precisely sums up the verbal gymnastics of Bernie Farber, CEO of the Canadian Jewish Congress, on the Three Wishes issue.

    Archive 2006-03-01 2006

  • The Hebrew word pilpul precisely sums up the verbal gymnastics of Bernie Farber, CEO of the Canadian Jewish Congress, on the Three Wishes issue.

    Bernie Farber's chutzpah 2006

  • They learned how to reason by using the logical system of rabbinical debate included in the Talmud’s pages, called in Yiddish pilpul.

    Emancipation Michael Goldfarb 2009

  • But the Jewish tradition of pilpul can create an entire world of meaning out of a seemingly unnecessary repetition of facts; why should a capitalization choice be any different.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Create a Constitutional Theory Out of This 2010

  • From the Jewish Encyclopedia, an example of pilpul:

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Create a Constitutional Theory Out of This 2010

  • That very last line ought to be in red or bold or both, considering actually 100% of settlers are violent unrepentant international war criminals, many are using the settlements to take advantage of legal status for drugs and that it is illustrative of pilpul to couch wild hasbarah in objective-looking prose and oh hey there is this one other last thing one in five are run-of-the-mill crooks.

    some settler statistics 2008

  • From the Jewish Encyclopedia, an example of pilpul:

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Create a Constitutional Theory Out of This 2010

  • But the Jewish tradition of pilpul can create an entire world of meaning out of a seemingly unnecessary repetition of facts; why should a capitalization choice be any different.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Create a Constitutional Theory Out of This 2010

  • A means of reconciling the seemingly irreconcilable in Jewish law and its interpretations, pilpul has come to mean the use of increasingly fine distinctions in argument, often in casuistical fashion.

    Archive 2006-03-01 2006

  • A means of reconciling the seemingly irreconcilable in Jewish law and its interpretations, pilpul has come to mean the use of increasingly fine distinctions in argument, often in casuistical fashion.

    Bernie Farber's chutzpah 2006

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.