bicker

¹

[ bik-er ]

verb (used without object)

1. to engage in petulant or peevish argument; wrangle:

   The two were always bickering.

   Synonyms: spat, disagreement, argument, spar, dispute, haggle, quarrel, argue, squabble, disagree

2. Literary. to rush or make a rushing sound, as water:

   We first heard and then saw the stream bickering down the valley.

3. to flicker; glitter:

   The sun bickered through the trees.

noun

1. an angry, petty dispute or quarrel; altercation.

bicker

²

[ bik-er ]

noun

, Scot.

1. any wooden dish or bowl, especially a wooden porridge bowl.
2. Obsolete. a wooden drinking cup.

bicker

/ ˈbɪkə /

verb

1. to argue over petty matters; squabble
2. poetic.
   1. (esp of a stream) to run quickly
   2. to flicker; glitter

noun

1. a petty squabble

Derived Forms

• ˈbickerer, noun
• ˈbickering, nounadjective

Other Words From

• bick·er·er noun
• un·bick·ered adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bicker¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English bikeren; origin unknown

Origin of bicker²

1300–50; Middle English biker beaker

Word History and Origins

Origin of bicker¹

C13: of unknown origin

Example Sentences

All we think old people do is bicker about how different you are.

From The Daily Beast

Despite their sizeable difference in age (he 53, she 25), the two playfully bicker like, well, a couple in an Allen film.

From The Daily Beast

They bicker and backstab and yell—and there is quite a bit of yelling.

From The Daily Beast

And it must get us to root for survivors who often bicker or self-sabotage when we just want them to move forward.

From The Daily Beast

The purpose of a campaign, after all, is to bicker about economic conditions and government actions.

From The Daily Beast

And, for want of better measure, he seized lustily a bicker that lay near him, and dashed a quantity of the liquor into it.

From Project Gutenberg

They were cast in a quieter time and refuse to bicker on a paltry minute.

From Project Gutenberg

Kirsty and Jenny, two country lassies, were supping their "parritch" from the same bicker in the harvest-field one morning.

From Project Gutenberg

We grow old and wrinkled and sick; we bicker with those we love; it grows harder to remember, easier to forget.

From Project Gutenberg

There is a homely saying in Wiltshire that married people are made to bicker and breed.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• disagree
• quarrel
• quibble
• spar
• squabble
• wrangle