caviler


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cav·il

 (kăv′əl)
v. cav·iled, cav·il·ing, cav·ils also cav·illed or cav·il·ling
v.intr.
To argue or find fault over trivial matters; raise petty objections. See Synonyms at quibble.
v.tr.
To quibble about; point out petty flaws in.
n.
A carping or trivial objection.

[French caviller, from Old French, from Latin cavillārī, to jeer, from cavilla, a jeering.]

cav′il·er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.caviler - a disputant who quibbles; someone who raises annoying petty objections
malcontent - a person who is discontented or disgusted
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

caviler

noun
A person who finds fault, often severely and willfully:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
References in classic literature ?
Proofs like these are not to be set aside by the idle tongues of cavilers. To such as are not bigoted, and are willing to be convinced, they carry a conviction that nothing can ever shake.
Then we went down into a cavern which cavilers say was once a cistern.
Cavilers object that water boils at a lower and lower temperature the higher and higher you go, and hence the apparent anomaly.
Smith makes her home in Savannah with Sir Henry, a King Charles Caviler that was raised on the rescue ranch, and Mikey, a tabby cat rescued from the streets of Dallas.
The Ausies had a much more caviler attitude about their on-range ammo storage and just dumped off a pallet of ammo on the range with no shade, no range shack, or cover tarp.