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
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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:
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
Classicists from Nick's, who stickle for the traditions of the Chicago Style, nodded their heads in austere approval.
From Time Magazine Archive
Here there are still champions of the German claim, whose number is increased by those who stickle for a definite "Low" German origin.
From The Flourishing of Romance and the Rise of Allegory (Periods of European Literature, vol. II) by George Saintsbury
But he was disposed to stickle for the hereditary rights of the crown, both public and private, and he greatly disliked the details of his expenditure being scrutinised by a parliamentary committee.
From The Political History of England - Vol XI From Addington's Administration to the close of William IV.'s Reign (1801-1837) by George C. (George Charles) Brodrick
Our author in this second volume has given the small carpers who pick at the ‘eds’ of past participles, and stickle for old-fashioned moon-shine instead of moon-shine, fewer causes of complaint.
From The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, February 1844 Volume 23, Number 2 by Various
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
Ammon stickled for the eternal principle of righteousness, and contended that it had been violated in the first instance.
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
"One party of English soldiers stickled not to contravene these commands, being tempted with the desire of finding victuals."
From On the Spanish Main Or, Some English forays on the Isthmus of Darien. by John Masefield
"You may even say, My Lord," replied Athos, who stickled for propriety.
From The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas père
Sawkins' men taunted him with "backwardness" in that engagement, and "stickled not to defame, or brand him with the note of cowardice."
From On the Spanish Main Or, Some English forays on the Isthmus of Darien. by John Masefield
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
Perhaps it is in order to compensate for our laxity of interpretation upon these points that we are so rigid in stickling for accuracy upon those which make no demand upon our comfort or convenience?
From The Fair Haven by R. A. (Richard Alexander) Streatfeild
"All the caves you want," said Bernel, scornful at such unusual stickling on the part of his chum.
From A Maid of the Silver Sea by John Oxenham
The artists fought this influence, stickling a long time for the severer classicism of ancient Greece.
From A Text-Book of the History of Painting by John Charles Van Dyke
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