different between quibble vs nitpick

English

Etymology

quib +? -le. Quib is probably from Latin quibus (“in what respect? how?”), which appeared frequently in legal documents and came to be suggestive of the verbosity and petty argumentation found therein.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kw?b?l/
• Rhymes: -?b?l

Noun

quibble (plural quibbles)

1. (now rare) A pun. [from 17th c.]
   • 1864, Robert Kemp Philp (editor), The Family Friend (page 54)

     Is it a quibble, or play upon words?
2. An objection or argument based on an ambiguity of wording or similar trivial circumstance; a minor complaint. [from 17th c.]
   • Quibbles […] have no place in the search after truth.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:dispute

Translations

Verb

quibble (third-person singular simple present quibbles, present participle quibbling, simple past and past participle quibbled)

1. (informal, intransitive) To complain or argue in a trivial or petty manner.

   They are constantly quibbling over insignificant details.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:squabble

Translations

References

English

Etymology

From nit +? pick, originally referring to literally removing invisibly tiny louse eggs by hand.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?t.p?k/

Verb

nitpick (third-person singular simple present nitpicks, present participle nitpicking, simple past and past participle nitpicked)

1. (figuratively) To correct minutiae or find fault in unimportant details.

   Synonyms: cavil, flyspeck
2. (archaic, literally) To pick nits (lice eggs) from someone’s hair. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Related terms

• nitpicker
• nit-picking
• nitpickish
• nitpicky

Translations

See also

• quibble
• split hairs