bicker
pronunciation
How to pronounce bicker in British English:
UK [ˈbɪkə(r)]
How to pronounce bicker in American English:
US [ˈbɪkər]
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- Noun:
- a quarrel about petty points
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- Verb:
- argue over petty things
Word Origin
- bicker (v.)
- early 14c., bikere, "to skirmish, fight," perhaps from Middle Dutch bicken "to slash, stab, attack," + -er, Middle English frequentative suffix. Meaning "to quarrel" is from mid-15c. Related: Bickered; bickering.
- bicker (n.)
- c. 1300, skirmish, battle; from the same source as bicker (v.). In modern use, often to describe the sound of a flight of an arrow or other repeated, loud, rapid sounds, in which sense it is perhaps at least partly echoic.
Example
- 1. Yet while the politicians bicker , corporate latin america is quietly moving closer together .
- 2. While the mafias are untroubled by national boundaries , central america 's governments bicker over them .
- 3. The lethal insurgency cries out for a resolution , yet the politicians in bangkok only bicker about mr thaksin .
- 4. He also fears that without their us " lead partner " , asians could bicker , or even fight .
- 5. They go hungry as north korea and the united states bicker over how -- and in what language -- free food is to be handed over .