mince
verb (used with object)
to cut or chop into very small pieces.
Used to express actions, events, or states that have not yet occurred but are expected to happen.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But they are habituated to trim themselves by the cloudy mirror of opinion, and will mince and temporise, as if for an invisible audience, even in their bedrooms.
From Style by Sir Walter Alexander Raleigh