quibble

• POS: Noun, Verb (intransitive)
• HYPHEN: quib=ble

CIDE DICTIONARY

quibble, n. [Probably fr. quib, quip, but influenced by quillet, or quiddity.].

•  A shift or turn from the point in question; a trifling or evasive distinction; an evasion; a cavil.  [1913 Webster]

  "Quibbles have no place in the search after truth."  [1913 Webster]
•  A pun; a low conceit.  [1913 Webster]

quibble, v. i. 

•  To evade the point in question by artifice, play upon words, caviling, or by raising any insignificant or impertinent question or point; to trifle in argument or discourse; to equivocate.  [1913 Webster]
•  To pun; to practice punning.  Cudworth.  [1913 Webster]

Syn. -- To cavil; shuffle; equivocate; trifle.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

quibble, n. & v.
--n.
1 a petty objection; a trivial point of criticism.
2 a play on words; a pun.
3 an evasion; an insubstantial argument which relies on an ambiguity etc.
--v.intr. use quibbles.

Derivative

quibbler n. quibbling adj. quibblingly adv.

Etymology

dimin. of obs. quib prob. f. L quibus dative & ablat. pl. of qui who (familiar from use in legal documents)

THESAURUS

quibble

adverse criticism, animadversion, argue, argufy, around the bush, aspersion, bad notices, bad press, bandy words, beat about, beg the question, bicker, boggle, captiousness, carp, carping, catch at straws, cavil, caviling, censoriousness, chicane, chop logic, choplogic, contend, contest, criticism, criticize, cross swords, cut and thrust, cut up, discept, dispute, dodge, equivocate, equivocation, evade, evade the issue, evasion, exception, fault-find, faultfinding, fence, find fault, flak, give and take, hair-splitting, hairsplitting, hassle, have it out, hedge, hit, home thrust, hostile criticism, hypercriticalness, hypercriticism, imputation, jesuitism, join issue, knock, lock horns, logomachize, moot, mystify, nagging, nicety, niggle, niggling, nit, nit-picking, nitpick, obloquy, obscure, overcriticalness, palter, paltering, parry, pestering, pettifog, pettifogging, pick holes, pick nits, pick to pieces, plead, polemicize, polemize, prevaricate, priggishness, pull apart, pull to pieces, pussyfoot, quibbling, quiddity, quillet, quip, quirk, quodlibet, rap, reflection, reproachfulness, shift, shuffle, shy, sidestep, slam, sophism, sophistry, spar, split hairs, squabble, stricture, subtlety, swipe, take exception, take sides, taking exception, tear apart, tear to pieces, tergiversate, thrash out, trichoschistism, try conclusions, wrangle

ROGET THESAURUS

quibble

Wit

N wit, humor, wittiness, sense of humor, attic wit, attic salt, atticism, salt, esprit, point, fancy, whim, drollery, pleasantry, farce, buffoonery, fooling, tomfoolery, shenanigan, harlequinade, broad farce, broad humor, fun, espieglerie, vis comica, jocularity, jocosity, jocoseness, facetiousness, waggery, waggishness, whimsicality, comicality, banter, badinage, retort, repartee, smartness, ready wit, quid- pro-quo, ridicule, jest, joke, jape, jibe, facetiae, levity, quips and cranks, capital joke, canorae nugae, standing jest, standing joke, private joke, conceit, quip, quirk, crank, quiddity, concetto, plaisanterie, brilliant idea, merry thought, bright thought, happy thought, sally, flash of wit, flash of merriment, scintillation, mot, mot pour rire, witticism, smart saying, bon-mot, jeu d'esprit, epigram, jest book, dry joke, quodlibet, cream of the jest, word-play, jeu de mots, play of words, play upon words, pun, punning, double entente, double entendre, quibble, verbal quibble, conundrum, anagram, acrostic, double acrostic, trifling, idle conceit, turlupinade, old joke, tired joke, flat joke, Joe Miller, witty, attic, quick-witted, nimble-witted, smart, jocular, jocose, humorous, facetious, waggish, whimsical, kidding, joking, puckish, playful, merry and wise, pleasant, sprightly, light, spirituel, sparkling, epigrammatic, full of point, ben trovato, comic, zany, madcap, funny, amusing, jokingly, in joke, in jest, in sport, in play, adhibenda est in jocando moderatio, gentle dullness ever loves a joke, leave this keen encounter of our wits, just joking, just kidding, surely you jest!.

Discrimination

VB discriminate, distinguish, severalize, recognize, match, identify, separate, draw the line, sift, separate the chaff from the wheat, winnow the chaff from the wheat, separate the men from the boys, split hairs, draw a fine line, nitpick, quibble, estimate, know which is which, know what is what, know 'a hawk from a handsaw', take into account, take into consideration, give due weight to, allow due weight to, weigh carefully.

Qualification

VB qualify, limit, modify, leaven, give a color to, introduce new conditions, narrow, temper, waffle, quibble, hem and haw (be uncertain), equivocate (sophistry), depend, depend on, be contingent on (effect), allow for, make allowance for, admit exceptions, take into account, modulate, moderate, temper, season, leaven, take exception.

& Sophistry

N intuition, instinct, association, hunch, gut feeling, presentiment, premonition, rule of thumb, superstition, astrology, faith (supposition), sophistry, paralogy, perversion, casuistry, jesuitry, equivocation, evasion, chicane, chicanery, quiddet, quiddity, mystification, special pleading, speciousness, nonsense, word sense, tongue sense, false reasoning, vicious reasoning, circular reasoning, petitio principii, ignoratio elenchi, post hoc ergo propter hoc, non sequitur, ignotum per ignotius, misjudgment, false teaching, sophism, solecism, paralogism, quibble, quirk, elenchus, elench, fallacy, quodlibet, subterfuge, subtlety, quillet, inconsistency, antilogy, a delusion, a mockery, and a snare, claptrap, cant, mere words, lame and impotent conclusion, meshes of sophistry, cobwebs of sophistry, flaw in an argument, weak point, bad case, overrefinement, hairsplitting, intuitive, instinctive, impulsive, independent of reason, anterior to reason, gratuitous, hazarded, unconnected, unreasonable, illogical, false, unsound, invalid, unwarranted, not following, inconsequent, inconsequential, inconsistent, absonous, absonant, unscientific, untenable, inconclusive, incorrect, fallacious, fallible, groundless, unproved, non sequitur, it does not follow, deceptive, sophistical, jesuitical, illusive, illusory, specious, hollow, plausible, ad captandum, evasive, irrelevant, weak, feeble, poor, flimsy, loose, vague, irrational, nonsensical, foolish, frivolous, pettifogging, quibbling, finespun, overrefined, at the end of one's tether, au bout de son latin, intuitively, by intuition, illogically, non constat, that goes for nothing.

VB judge intuitively, judge by intuition, hazard a proposition, hazard a guess, talk at random, reason ill, falsely, misjudge, paralogize, take on faith, take as a given, assume (supposition), pervert, quibble, equivocate, mystify, evade, elude, gloss over, varnish, misteach, mislead, cavil, refine, subtilize, split hairs, misrepresent, beg the question, reason in a circle, reason in circles, assume the conclusion, cut blocks with a razor, beat about the bush, play fast and loose, play fast and loose with the facts, blow hot and cold, prove that black is white and white black, travel out of the record, parler a tort et a travers, put oneself out of court, not have a leg to stand on, judge hastily, shoot from the hip, jump to conclusions (misjudgment).

Absurdity

N absurdity, absurdness, imbecility alogy, nonsense, utter nonsense, paradox, inconsistency, stultiloquy, stultiloquence, nugacity, blunder, muddle, bull, Irishism, Hibernicism, slipslop, anticlimax, bathos, sophism, farce, galimathias, amphigouri, rhapsody, farrago, betise, extravagance, romance, sciamachy, sell, pun, verbal quibble, macaronic, jargon, fustian, twaddle, gibberish, exaggeration, moonshine, stuff, mare's nest, quibble, self- delusion, vagary, tomfoolery, poppycock, mummery, monkey trick, boutade, escapade, absurd, nonsensical, preposterous, egregious, senseless, inconsistent, ridiculous, extravagant, quibbling, self-annulling, self- contradictory, macaronic, punning, foolish sophistical, unmeaning, without rhyme or reason, fantastic, Int, fiddlededee!, pish!, pho!, in the name of the Prophet--figs!, credat Judaeus Apella, tell it to the marines.

Unmeaningness

VB mean nothing, be unmeaning, twaddle, quibble, scrabble.

Equivocalness

N equivocalness, double meaning, ambiguity, double entente, double entendre, pun, paragram, calembour, quibble, equivoque, anagram, conundrum, play on words, word play, homonym, homonymy, amphiboly, amphibology, ambilogy, ambiloquy, Sphinx, Delphic oracle, equivocation, white lie, mental reservation, paltering, equivocal, ambiguous, amphibolous, homonymous, double-tongued, enigmatical, indeterminate, on the one hand, on the other hand.

Falsehood

VB be false, be a liar, speak falsely, tell a lie, lie, fib, lie like a trooper, swear false, forswear, perjure oneself, bear false witness, misstate, misquote, miscite, misreport, misrepresent, belie, falsify, pervert, distort, put a false construction upon (misinterpret), prevaricate, equivocate, quibble, palter, palter to the understanding, repondre en Normand, trim, shuffle, fence, mince the truth, beat about the bush, blow hot and cold, play fast and loose, garble, gloss over, disguise, give a color to, give a gloss, put a gloss, put false coloring upon, color, varnish, cook, dress up, embroider, varnish right and puzzle wrong, exaggerate, blague, invent, fabricate, trump up, get up, force, fake, hatch, concoct, romance, cry 'wolf!', dissemble, dissimulate, feign, assume, put on, pretend, make believe, play possum, play false, play a double game, coquet, act a part, play a part, affect, simulate, pass off for, counterfeit, sham, make a show of, malinger, say the grapes are sour, cant, play the hypocrite, sham Abraham, faire pattes de velours, put on the mask, clean the outside of the platter, lie like a conjuror, hand out false colors, hold out false colors, sail under false colors, commend the poisoned chalice to the lips, ambiguas in vulgum spargere voces, deceive.