squabble
UK/ˈskwɒbəl//ˈskwɑːbəl/
squabble noun: a minor fight or argument.
Noun
squabble (plural squabbles)
- A minor fight or argument.
- The children got into a squabble about who should ride in the front of the car.
- It was obvious to the inhabitants of the small coastal town of Bridport that in the midst of these squabbles their need for a railway was going to be overlooked, and they decided to take the matter into their own hands.1957 November, J. Spencer Gilks, “Centenary of the Bridport Branch”, in Railway Magazine, page 747
- A group of seagulls.
- Damon pointed at the squabble of gulls.2016, Jenifer McVaugh, Our Lady of Happy Endings, Friesen Press
- When the squabble of gulls splashed into the river, they squawked, swam apart, flapped away with dripping bits in bloody beaks2022, Robert Dean Holland, Dragons of Janaidar and Elijah, The Stolen Man: A Science Fiction Fantasy, Roxytone LLC
Verb
squabble (third-person singular simple present squabbles, present participle squabbling, simple past and past participle squabbled)
- To participate in a minor fight or argument; to quarrel.
- The brothers were always squabbling with each other.
- The sense of these propositions is very plain and easy, though logicians might perhaps squabble a whole day whether they should rank them under negative or affirmative.1725, Isaac Watts, Logick: Or, The Right Use of Reason in the Enquiry after Truth, […], 2nd edition, London: […] John Clark and Richard Hett, […], Emanuel Matthews, […], and Richard Ford, […]...
- To disarrange, so that the letters or lines stand awry and require readjustment.
- to squabble type
squabble meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
squabble in Hindi
- minor fight or argument
- झगड़ा jhagṛā, लड़ाई laṛāī
squabble in Tamil
- பூசல்
squabble in Urdu
- squabble
- چونچ cõc
squabble in Bengali
- তুচ্ছ বিষয়ে ঝগড়া
More languagesFewer languages
- squabble in Malayalam
- ലഹള, അടിപിടി, വഴക്ക്, കൂട്ടയടി
- squabble in Arabic
- شِجَار šijār, شَاجَرَ šājara
- squabble in Persian
- بگومگو begu-magu, یکیبهدو yeki-be-do
Examples of squabble in a sentence
- Some posters left the online message board after the squabble.
- But Loomer’s lack of control and propensity for interparty squabbling could hurt the former president.
- Despite the catastrophic situation, the lovers are squabbling with each other.
Synonyms of squabble
Forms of squabble
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | squabbles |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | squabbles |
| present participle | squabbling |
| past participle | squabbled |
| past | squabbled |
Origin of squabble
The noun form first appears c. 1602, while the verbal form first appears c. 1616. Probably of North Germanic origin and ultimately imitative. Related to Swedish dialectal skvabbel (“a dispute, quarrel, gossip”), Norwegian dialectal skvabba (“to prattle”), German dialectal schwabbeln (“to babble, prattle”), Swedish dialectal skvappa (“to chide, scold”, literally “make a splash”).
Words formed from squabble
Phrases with squabble
Words that rhyme with squabble
Questions about squabble
- What does squabble mean?
- Squabble means a minor fight or argument.
- What is squabble in Hindi?
- Squabble in Hindi is झगड़ा (jhagṛā), लड़ाई (laṛāī). See Squabble meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is squabble?
- Squabble can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce squabble?
- Squabble is pronounced /ˈskwɒbəl/ (UK).
- What is the plural of squabble?
- The plural of squabble is squabbles.
Words near squabble in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: squabble (page history and authors); squabble (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); چونچ (Urdu) (page history and authors); squabble (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); squabble (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-squabble.ogg.
Cite this entry: “squabble.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/squabble. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.