Refine this word faster

Stronger alternatives Opposite tone Use in context Cross-language nuance

Stickle

adj, name, noun, verb

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Steep; high; inaccessible.
  2. 2
    High, as the water of a river; swollen; sweeping; rapid. UK, dialectal
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.
Noun
  1. 1
    A sharp point; prickle; a spine
  2. 2
    A shallow rapid in a river. British, dialectal

    "He swam through the plying poles of the stickle, and ran over the shallow, reaching safe water before the pack came down. He was young and fast and strong."

  3. 3
    The current below a waterfall. British, dialectal

    "[P]atient Anglers ſtanding all the day / Neere to ſome ſhallovv ſtickle or deepe bay."

Verb
  1. 1
    To act as referee or arbiter; to mediate. British, dialectal, obsolete
  2. 2
    dispute or argue stubbornly (especially minor points) wordnet
  3. 3
    To argue or struggle for. British, archaic, dialectal

    "‘She has other people than poor little you to think about, and has gone abroad with them; so you needn’t be in the least afraid she’ll stickle this time for her rights.’"

  4. 4
    To raise objections; to argue stubbornly, especially over minor or trivial matters. British, dialectal

    "Miserable new Berline! Why could not Royalty go in some old Berline similar to that of other men? Flying for life, one does not stickle about his vehicle."

  5. 5
    To separate, as combatants; hence, to quiet, to appease, as disputants. British, dialectal, obsolete, transitive

    "Which [question] violently they pursue, / Nor stickled would they be."

Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    To intervene in; to stop, or put an end to, by intervening. British, dialectal, obsolete, transitive

    "They ran to him, and, pulling him back by force, stickled that unnatural fray."

  2. 7
    To separate combatants by intervening. British, dialectal, intransitive, obsolete

    "When he [the angel] sees half of the Christians are already killed, and all the rest in a fair way to be routed, [he]stickles betwixt the remainders of God’s host, and the race of fiends."

  3. 8
    To contend, contest, or altercate, especially in a pertinacious manner on insufficient grounds. British, dialectal, intransitive, obsolete

    "Fortune, as she’s wont, turned fickle, / And for the foe began to stickle."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English *stikel, *stykyl (in compounds), from Old English sticel (“a prickle, sting, goad”), from Proto-Germanic *stiklaz, *stikilaz (“sting, stinger, peak, cup, goblet”), related to the verb *stikaną (“to stick”). Cognate with Dutch stekel, Icelandic stikill, Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌹𐌺𐌻𐍃 (stikls) (whence Russian стекло́ (stekló, “glass”), Polish szkło (“glass”), Lithuanian sti̇̀klas, Romanian sticlă).

Etymology 2

From Middle English stikel, from Old English sticel, sticol (“high, lofty, steep, reaching great heights, inaccessible”), from Proto-Germanic *stikulaz, *stikkulaz (“high, steep”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to stick; peak”).

Etymology 3

From Middle English stikel, from Old English sticel, sticol (“high, lofty, steep, reaching great heights, inaccessible”), from Proto-Germanic *stikulaz, *stikkulaz (“high, steep”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to stick; peak”).

Etymology 4

From a variant of stightle (“to order, arrange, direct”), from Middle English stightelen, stiȝtlen, stihilen, stihlen, equivalent to stight (“to order, rule, govern”) + -le (frequentative suffix). For the development of /təl/ to /kəl/, compare huckleberry and dialectal turkle (“turtle”).

Etymology 5

From the German surname, Americanized from Stickel.

See also for "stickle"

Synonyms Antonyms Rhymes Sentences Translate Word Type Pronunciation Word Forms

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciation

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: stickle