Quibble

WORD OF THE DAY

quibble / verb / KWIB-ul

Definition
1: to evade the point of an argument by caviling about words
2a: cavil, carp
2b: bicker
3: to subject to quibbles
4: an evasion of or shift from the point
5: a minor objection or criticism

Example
“The Outfit is a smart movie—maybe a little too smart for its own good here and there, but let’s not quibble.”
– Mick LaSalle, The San Francisco Chronicle, 15 Mar. 2022

And there's room to quibble about micro-level decisions along the way.
— Rahat Huq, Chron, 7 Mar. 2022

Did You Know?
In addition to functioning as a verb, quibble also exists as a noun meaning "an evasion of or shift from the point" and "a minor objection or criticism."
Both forms of the word arrived in English in the mid-17th century. Presumably (though not certainly) quibble originated as a diminutive of a now obsolete word, quib, which also meant "quibble."
In fact, although language experts may quibble over this, there is a possibility that quib can be traced back to the plural of the Latin word qui, meaning "who," which was often used in legal documents. If so, that makes quibble a very distant cousin of the English word who.