Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To engage in a bad-tempered argument, often over a trivial matter; bicker. synonym: argue.
  • noun A noisy quarrel, often about a trivial matter.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To engage in a noisy quarrel or row; wrangle; quarrel and fight noisily; brawl; scuffle.
  • Synonyms To jangle. See quarrel, n.
  • In printing, to disarrange andmix (lines of composed types) when they are standing on their feet.
  • noun A wrangle; a dispute; a brawl; a scuffle; a noisy quarrel.
  • noun Synonyms Brawl, Wrangle, etc. See quarrel.

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

  • transitive verb (Print.) To disarrange, so that the letters or lines stand awry or are mixed and need careful readjustment; -- said of type that has been set up.
  • noun A scuffle; a wrangle; a brawl.
  • intransitive verb To contend for superiority in an unseemly manner; to scuffle; to struggle; to wrangle; to quarrel.
  • intransitive verb To debate peevishly; to dispute.

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

  • noun A minor fight or argument as between children, for example.
  • verb To participate in a minor fight or argument.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a quarrel about petty points
  • verb argue over petty things

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably of Scandinavian origin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Probably of North Germanic origin, 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").

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Examples

  • "the title squabble between the Saints and the Colts."

    Aspen Times - Top Stories 2010

  • "the title squabble between the Saints and the Colts."

    Aspen Times - Top Stories Su Lum The Aspen Times Aspen 2010

  • The current squabble is nothing new, but it could herald far-reaching change: The U.K. government has pledged to extricate itself from the unedifying annual spectacle by removing the role of the secretary of state from determining the levy scheme, and there is a sense that this represents an opportunity to remodel the levy with a viable commercial mechanism.

    Jockeying Over Horseracing Funding Jonathan Clegg 2010

  • There's a custody squabble, which is not helped by possible future deployments and MEU's.

    Andrew Lubin: Semper Fi and Always Faithful Andrew Lubin 2011

  • There's a custody squabble, which is not helped by possible future deployments and MEU's.

    Andrew Lubin: Semper Fi and Always Faithful Andrew Lubin 2011

  • There's a custody squabble, which is not helped by possible future deployments and MEU's.

    Andrew Lubin: Semper Fi and Always Faithful Andrew Lubin 2011

  • There's a custody squabble, which is not helped by possible future deployments and MEU's.

    Andrew Lubin: Semper Fi and Always Faithful Andrew Lubin 2011

  • NANCY GRACE, COURT TV: Well, I know it is being characterized as a squabble, Larry, but I think the bottom line is that every victim's family -- and I'm speaking not just as a former prosecutor but as a victim of violent crime -- every victim's family wants that case to go forward, and they want to make sure that their loved ones 'case is protected.

    CNN Transcript Oct 28, 2002 2002

  • One-Eye mentions that whenever they get into a squabble, which is about as often as there is an audience but nobody to get between them.

    Water Sleeps Cook, Glen 1999

  • He mentions it whenever he and One-Eye get into a squabble, which is about as often as they see one another.

    Water Sleeps Cook, Glen 1999

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