What does "bicker" mean?
A skirmish; an encounter.
Bicker
/ˈbɪkɚ/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A skirmish; an encounter.
- Grammar: bicker is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: squabble, wrangle, altercate, altercation.
- Useful contrasts: agree, cooperate.
- Usage evidence: Tom and Mary bicker all day long.
How to use "bicker"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "bicker" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "bicker" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "bicker" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "bicker" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "bicker" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "squabble" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "bicker", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A skirmish; an encounter. countable
- 2 A wooden drinking-cup or other dish. Scotland
"…the liquors were handed around in great fulness, the ale in large wooden bickers, and the brandy in capacious horns of oxen."
- 3 a quarrel about petty points wordnet
- 4 A fight with stones between two parties of boys. Scotland, countable, obsolete
"Even if he did not take part in the fighting himself, he was no doubt familiar with those who had been taught, ass Darsie Latimer was by Alan Fairford, to "smoke a cobbler, spin a lozen, head a bicker, and hold the bannets" - in other words, to break a window, head a skirmish with stones, and hold the bonnet[…]"
- 5 A wrangle; also, a noise, as in angry contention. countable, uncountable
Show 1 more definition
- 6 The process by which selective eating clubs at Princeton University choose new members. countable, uncountable
"Bicker process varies by club, and there are often concerns of the rights of female students during bicker […]"
Verb
- 1 To quarrel in a tiresome, insulting manner.
"They bickered about dinner every evening."
- 2 argue over petty things wordnet
- 3 To brawl or move tremulously, quiver, shimmer (of a water stream, light, flame, etc.)
"Mean time unnumber'd glittering Streamlets play'd, / And hurled every-where their Waters ſheen; / That, as they bicker'd through the ſunny Glade, / Though reſtleſs ſtill themſelves, a lulling Murmur made."
- 4 To patter.
- 5 To skirmish; to exchange blows; to fight.
"And at the field fought before Bebriacum, ere the battailes joyned, tvvo Ægles had a conflict and bickered together in all their fights: and vvhen the one of them was foyled and overcome, a third came at the very inſtant from the ſunne riſing and chaſed the Victreſſe avvay."
Example
"Tom and Mary bicker all day long."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "bicker"?
Common synonyms include: squabble, wrangle, altercate, altercation, apologetics, apologia.
How do you use "bicker" in a sentence?
Tom and Mary bicker all day long.
How do you pronounce "bicker"?
Pronounced /ˈbɪkɚ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English bikeren (“to attack”), from Middle Dutch bicken (“to stab, thrust, attack”) + -er (frequentative suffix), from Old Dutch *bikken, from Proto-West Germanic *bikkjan, from Proto-Germanic *bikjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg- (“to smash, break”). See also Old English becca (“pickax”), Dutch bikken (“to hack”), German picken (“to peck, pick at”), Old Norse bikkja (“to plunge into water”); compare also German Low German bickern (“to nibble, gnaw”).
Etymology 2
From Scots bicker, from Middle English biker. Doublet of beaker.