squabble

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English

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Etymology

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1600s, probably of North Germanic origin and ultimately imitative.[1]

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).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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squabble (plural squabbles)

  1. A minor fight or argument.
    The children got into a squabble about who should ride in the front of the car.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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squabble (third-person singular simple present squabbles, present participle squabbling, simple past and past participle squabbled)

  1. (intransitive) To participate in a minor fight or argument; to quarrel.
    The brothers were always squabbling with each other.
    • 1725, Isaac Watts, Logick: Or, The Right Use of Reason in the Enquiry after Truth, [], 2nd edition, London: [] John Clark and Richard Hett, [], Emanuel Matthews, [], and Richard Ford, [], published 1726, →OCLC:
      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.
  2. (transitive, printing) To disarrange, so that the letters or lines stand awry and require readjustment.
    to squabble type

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.