squabble

Definition

A minor fight or argument.

Etymology

The noun form first appears c. 1602, while the verbal form first appears c. 1616. Probably of North Germanic origin and ultimately imitative. 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”).

Example Sentences

• "The children got into a squabble about who should ride in the front of the car."
• "It was obvious to the inhabitants of the small coastal town of Bridport that in the midst of these squabbles their need for a railway was going to be overlooked, and they decided to take the matter into their own hands."
• ""p your mess. Also, as apologetic as you were for occupying my time, which I had hoped to spend with my daughter, you used about twice as many words as you needed to, and wasted an entire paragraph complaining about your colleagues. I went back to the SCP-079 file — Supervisor Valis would have had the thing decommissioned years ago if it weren't for your blatant technofetishism. Yet, you have the gall to characterize the Foundation's ongoing political interventions and military operations as squabbles.""