stickle
Americanverb (used without object)
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to argue or haggle insistently, especially on trivial matters.
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to raise objections; scruple; demur.
verb
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to dispute stubbornly, esp about minor points
-
to refuse to agree or concur, esp by making petty stipulations
Etymology
Origin of stickle
1520–30; variant of obsolete stightle to set in order, frequentative of stight to set in order, Middle English stighten, Old English stihtan to arrange; cognate with German stiften, Old Norse stētta to set up
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.
See Examples For:
Classicists from Nick's, who stickle for the traditions of the Chicago Style, nodded their heads in austere approval.
From Time Magazine Archive
Meanwhile in London His Majesty's Government continued to stickle for the oath in a sharp note to the Irish Free State, so sharp that last week neither sender nor receiver would divulge the contents.
From Time Magazine Archive
Not to stickle, I would surrender them without price.
From Cotton is King, and Pro-Slavery Arguments Comprising the Writings of Hammond, Harper, Christy, Stringfellow, Hodge, Bledsoe, and Cartrwright on This Important Subject by E. N. Elliott
This stickle spread, with an oily tremor and white undercurrent full of air pearls, from a waterfall where the foot of Joan's throne fretted the stream.
From Lying Prophets by Eden Phillpotts
Browne's Pastoral, "The Squirrel Hunt," we read of— "Patient anglers, standing all the day Near to some shallow stickle, or deep bay."
He stickled as little against mere forms as for them; only, if they stood between the soul and Christ or between a Christian and his brethren, then he was their uncompromising opponent.
From The Life of St. Paul by James Stalker
"You may even say, My Lord," replied Athos, who stickled for propriety.
From The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas père
"Ten to one as a County magnate he stickled for it, and the High Sheriff put him on the panel to keep him amused."
From Lady Good-for-Nothing by Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
The widow Bevis indeed stickled hard for me.
From Clarissa Harlowe; or the history of a young lady — Volume 5 by Samuel Richardson
Other critics have not stickled to assert that it has mischievously affected the volume of the Colony's industries, a statement which is simply untrue.
From The Long White Cloud by William Pember Reeves
The film, which was made largely with a $20,000 grant from the Wikimedia Foundation, spends time showing what has been lost to Wikipedia because of stickling rules of citation and verification.
From New York Times ● Aug. 8, 2011
After the "Schweinehund Speech," however, it was clear that Briand and Poincare are one in stickling for cash.
From Time Magazine Archive
This is seen in their way of stickling for accuracy when others repeat familiar word-forms.
From Children's Ways by James Sully
Call it by another name, then—if you prefer stickling about terms.
From The Finger of Fate A Romance by Mayne Reid
At last the Senate sent to make terms with Cinna; but while they were stickling about acknowledging his title of consul, he advanced to the gates.
From The Gracchi Marius and Sulla Epochs of Ancient History by A.H. Beesley
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