The injunction is multiplied on us, as it were, to silence the sophistry of the caviller, and to fix the most inconsiderate mind.
"What objection could a caviller find with my epigram," said Mathilde to herself.
Surely none but a caviller will find any want of harmony between these different modes of expression.
I have proof enough to carry conviction to any honest breast—to satisfy any caviller—except a court of justice.
I neither fear the critic or the caviller upon the ground-work of my address.
Will the caviller prove that the sun and moon would be greater blessings if their light wore more intense, or more abundant?
So caviller like I submitted to pow'r, And was coddled in troth for the third of an hour.
1540s, from Middle French caviller "to mock, jest," from Latin cavillari "to jeer, mock; satirize, argue scoffingly" (also source of Italian cavillare, Spanish cavilar), from cavilla "jest, jeering," related to calumnia (see calumny).
