Merriam-Webster's Word Central

November 25, 2012

quibble (verb): \KWIB-ul\
What does it mean?: 1 : to talk about unimportant things rather than the real point2 : to find fault or argue over unimportant points
How do you use it?: We wasted so much time quibbling over the rules that when we finally agreed there was no time left to play the game.
Are you a word wiz?: Which sentence do you think uses the verb "quibble" correctly?

A. Don't let my little brother quibble all over my drawing.

B. It's useless to quibble over minor details.

C. The students all quibbled that it was their favorite book.

D. I had only one quibble with his suggestion.

Don't quibble with B. Sentence A correctly uses "quibble" as a verb, but neither meaning of "quibble" fits here. The word "scribble" would work instead. Sentence C also uses "quibble" as a verb. But like A, it makes no sense. The students might have "agreed" on a favorite book. In sentence D, "quibble" is used as a noun. It's true that there is a noun "quibble." It means "a statement that deals with a minor matter and not the real point under discussion" and "a minor objection or criticism." Although D uses the noun correctly, it can't be the right choice since we were looking for the verb.