pettifog

American  

[pet-ee-fog, -fawg] / ˈpɛt iˌfɒg, -ˌfɔg /

verb (used without object)

pettifogged, pettifogging

1. to bicker or quibble over trifles or unimportant matters.

2. to carry on a petty, shifty, or unethical law business.

3. to practice chicanery of any sort.

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pettifog British  

/ ˈpɛtɪˌfɒɡ /

verb

1. (intr) to be a pettifogger

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Other Word Forms

• pettifogger noun
• pettifoggery noun

Etymology

Origin of pettifog

First recorded in 1605–15; back formation from pettifogger “ambulance chaser,” equivalent to petty “inferior, secondary” + fogger “shyster,” from Middle Low German voger or Middle Dutch voeger “an arranger, a fixer”; akin to Old English gefōg “a joining, a joint”; petty

Example Sentences

Experts were doubtful from the start of his pettifogging that he had reasonable grounds to bail out.

From Los Angeles Times

The Economist described his viewpoint succinctly: “He paints stewards of fair play — regulators and boards — as pettifogging enemies of progress,” wrote its pseudonymous business columnist “Schumpeter.”

From Los Angeles Times

The virtue of this concept is that it divorces essential protections from pettifogging debates over the definition of “employee.”

From Los Angeles Times

Mr. Johnson’s allies accuse the European Union of inflexibility in applying rules, a pettifogging lack of sensitivity to feelings in parts of Northern Ireland and vengeful hostility toward Britain for exiting the bloc.

From New York Times

But the vast majority of our elected representatives overruled the pettifogging legalisms of Kennedy and the others.

From Washington Times