bickering
Americanadjective
-
arguing petulantly or peevishly; wrangling or quarreling.
To raise their daughter properly, the bickering pair must set aside their differences and work on their parenting skills.
-
flickering.
They deliberately hadn’t fixed the bickering light at the bistro, as it had become an iconic feature of the establishment.
-
Literary. rushing or making a rushing sound, as water.
The two flutes accompanied by piano sounded like two chirping birds chasing each other above a bickering stream.
noun
-
the act of engaging in petulant or peevish argument.
Why all this useless bickering over who's best or better?
-
the act of flickering.
If you’re bothered by the constant bickering of the malfunction light on your motorbike, do a thorough analysis of the wiring.
-
Literary. the act of rushing or of making a rushing sound, as water.
Over the roar of the falls and the ceaseless bickering of the rain, he heard another sound.
Other Word Forms
- unbickering adjective
Etymology
Origin of bickering
First recorded in 1275–1325; bicker 1 ( def. ) + -ing 2 ( def. ) for the adjective senses; bicker 1 ( def. ) + -ing 1 ( def. ) for the noun senses
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
After some long-winded bickering between the two camps, the fighters - relatively restrained until that point - finally sparked into life.
From BBC
This constant bickering only leads to an inescapable level of discourse that serves the false perception of Fennell as the raging provocateur she is not.
From Salon
The pair are later seen bickering just as they did in the old days.
From BBC
Shots of children too absorbed in their tablets to play with each other intermingle with classic bickering between Tom Hanks‘ Woody and Tim Allen‘s Buzz Lightyear.
From Salon
Now the venture has devolved into bickering between defense companies Airbus and Dassault Aviation—and between Berlin and Paris—over who gets to lead its development, with all sides now questioning its future.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
