stickle

[ stik-uhl ]
See synonyms for stickle on Thesaurus.com
verb (used without object),stick·led, stick·ling.
  1. to argue or haggle insistently, especially on trivial matters.

  2. to raise objections; scruple; demur.

Origin of stickle

1
1520–30; variant of obsolete stightle to set in order, frequentative of stight to set in order, Middle English stighten,Old English stihtan to arrange; cognate with German stiften,Old Norse stētta to set up

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use stickle in a sentence

  • "All the caves you want," said Bernel, scornful at such unusual stickling on the part of his chum.

  • This is seen in their way of stickling for accuracy when others repeat familiar word-forms.

    Children's Ways | James Sully
  • Why, man, I found them fastened on him myself; and there was odd staving and stickling to make them 'ware haunch!'

  • The artists fought this influence, stickling a long time for the severer classicism of ancient Greece.

  • "This will be brought to you by Stickling," the note said; but who Stickling was Vavasor did not know.

    Can You Forgive Her? | Anthony Trollope

British Dictionary definitions for stickle

stickle

/ (ˈstɪkəl) /


verb(intr)
  1. to dispute stubbornly, esp about minor points

  2. to refuse to agree or concur, esp by making petty stipulations

Origin of stickle

1
C16 stightle (in the sense: to arbitrate): frequentative of Old English stihtan to arrange; related to Old Norse stētta to support

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012