cavil
verb (used without object)
to raise irritating and trivial objections; find fault with unnecessarily (usually followed by at orabout ).
caviled
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past participleof cavil.past participle
A verb form used in perfect and passive verb constructions and that can also function as a modifier.
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past tense formof cavil.past tense
Used to describe completed actions or previous habitual actions.
cavilverb (used without object)to raise irritating and trivial objections; find fault with unnecessarily (usually followed by at orabout ).
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Prospective investors had caviled at “the benevolence of Starbucks management”, he said, which gave all employees health insurance and stock options; they wanted the money spent on investor returns.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 30, 2017
Indeed, some U.S. policymakers caviled at Thant's plan.
From Time Magazine Archive
No one has caviled that Hughes, who was too young for combat in World War I and too old for combat in World War II, should have chosen to write about both.
From Time Magazine Archive
Critics caviled in this case because cub reporters do not write editorials under their signatures on the front pages.
From Time Magazine Archive
But let us begin with a life-story, where love resolved its "moonshine" into life, and justified itself even to stopping the mouths of certain self-appointed censors, who caviled much and quibbled overtime.
From Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great - Volume 13 Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Lovers by Elbert Hubbard
