Squabble

//ˈskwɒbəl// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A minor fight or argument.

    "The children got into a squabble about who should ride in the front of the car."

  2. 2
    a quarrel about petty points wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To participate in a minor fight or argument; to quarrel. intransitive

    "The brothers were always squabbling with each other."

  2. 2
    argue over petty things wordnet
  3. 3
    To disarrange, so that the letters or lines stand awry and require readjustment. transitive

    "to squabble type"

Synonyms

All synonyms
bickerbickerdisputepettifogquarrelquibble

Example

More examples

"The diplomatic squabble flared into an open war."

Etymology

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”).

Related phrases

bum-squabble

More for "squabble"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.