stickle

• POS: Verb (intransitive)
• HYPHEN: stick=le

CIDE DICTIONARY

stickle, v. i. [Probably fr. OE. stightlen, stitlen, to dispose, arrange, govern, freq. of stihten, AS. stihtan: cf. G. stiften to found, to establish.].

•  To separate combatants by intervening.  [1913 Webster]

  "When he [the angel] sees half of the Christians killed, and the rest in a fair way of being routed, he stickles betwixt the remainder of God's host and the race of fiends."  [1913 Webster]
•  To contend, contest, or altercate, esp. in a pertinacious manner on insufficient grounds.  [1913 Webster]

  "Fortune, as she 's wont, turned fickle,
  And for the foe began to stickle."  [1913 Webster]

  "While for paltry punk they roar and stickle."  [1913 Webster]

  "The obstinacy with which he stickles for the wrong."  [1913 Webster]
•  To play fast and loose; to pass from one side to the other; to trim.  [1913 Webster]

stickle, v. t. 

•  To separate, as combatants; hence, to quiet, to appease, as disputants.  [1913 Webster]

  "Which [question] violently they pursue,
  Nor stickled would they be."  [1913 Webster]
•  To intervene in; to stop, or put an end to, by intervening; hence, to arbitrate.  [1913 Webster]

  "They ran to him, and, pulling him back by force, stickled that unnatural fray."  [1913 Webster]

stickle, n. [Cf. stick, v. t. & i.].

 A shallow rapid in a river; also, the current below a waterfall.  [1913 Webster]
"Patient anglers, standing all the day
Near to some shallow stickle or deep bay."  [1913 Webster]

THESAURUS

stickle

abrupt, arduous, back down, balance, balk, blench, boggle, contend, contend for, debate, deliberate, demur, die hard, falter, fear, fight for, fight shy of, flinch, gag, hang back, hang off, have qualms, hem and haw, hesitate, hold off, hold out, hover, hum and haw, jib, kick, make bones about, not budge, object, pause, persevere, ponder, precipitate, precipitous, protest, pull back, quail, recoil, retreat, scruple, sheer, shilly-shally, shrink, shy, shy at, sideling, stall, stand out, stand pat, stick, stick at, stickle for, stipulate for, stop to consider, straddle the fence, strain, strain at, strive for, struggle for, stumble, take no denial, think twice about, vie for, waver, wince, withdraw, yield

ROGET THESAURUS

stickle

Unwillingness

VB be unwilling, nill, dislike, grudge, begrudge, not be able to find it in one's heart to, not have the stomach to, demur, stick at, scruple, stickle, hang fire, run rusty, recoil, shrink, swerve, hesitate, avoid, oppose, dissent, refuse.

Obstinacy

VB be obstinate, stickle, take no denial, fly in the face of facts, opinionate, be wedded to an opinion, hug a belief, have one's own way, persist, have the last word, insist on having the last word, die hard, fight against destiny, not yield an inch, stand out.

Barter

VB barter, exchange, swap, swop, truck, scorse, interchange, commutate, compound for, trade, traffic, buy and sell, give and take, nundinate, carry on a trade, ply a trade, drive a trade, be in business, be in the city, keep a shop, deal in, employ one's capital in, trade with, deal with, have dealings with, transact business with, do business with, open an account with, keep an account with, bargain, drive a bargain, make a bargain, negotiate, bid for, haggle, higgle, dicker, chaffer, huckster, cheapen, beat down, stickle, stickle for, out bid, under bid, ask, charge, strike a bargain, speculate, give a sprat to catch a herring, buy in the cheapest and sell in the dearest market, buy low and sell high, corner the market, rig the market, stag the market.