Did you mean cavil?
Definitions
Wiktionary
- v. present participle of cavil.
- n. cavillation
Etymologies
- French caviller, from Old French, from Latin cavillārī, to jeer, from cavilla, a jeering.
Examples
“But then, cavilling is contemptible, as all controversialists declare!”
Selections from the Letters of Geraldine Endsor Jewsbury to Jane Welsh Carlyle
“If a player of Beardsley's ability was available now, one whose intelligence brought the best out of so many partners while scoring more than 200 goals himself, there would be little cavilling at a fee of more than £20m.”
The Guardian: Darren Bent is the latest in a long line of lone wolves | Rob Bagchi
“Why on earth sit there cavilling when you could be doing something positive?”
The Guardian: Why can't the Newspaper Publishers Association launch its own app aggregator?
“Instead of cavilling, other organisations should follow UNESCO's approach.”
The Huffington Post: UNESCO Slammed For 'Dictator' Science Prize
“Sometimes cavilling criticism must fall silent and this is one such occasion," says Charles Spencer, which must have hurt.”
“But for all my cavilling, he stood up for free trade, free markets and free societies.”
“EDITOR: The watchdog being the Audit Commission, normally known for cavilling about spending”
“Provoked and wearied, Cecilia resolved no longer to depend upon any body but herself for the management of her own affairs, and therefore, to conclude the business without any possibility of further cavilling, she wrote the following note to Sir Robert herself.”
“Whoever you may be, I caution you against rashly defaming the author of this work, or cavilling in jest against him.”
“But I will urge these cavilling and contumelious arguments no farther, lest some physician should mistake me, and deny me physic when I am sick: for my part, I am well persuaded of physic: I can distinguish the abuse from the use, in this and many other arts and sciences:”
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