to refuse to agree or concur, esp by making petty stipulations
Word origin
C16 stightle (in the sense: to arbitrate): frequentative of Old English stihtan to arrange; related to Old Norse stētta to support
stickle in American English
(ˈstɪkəl)
verb intransitiveWord forms: ˈstickled or ˈstickling
1.
to raise objections, haggle, or make difficulties, esp. in a stubborn, narrow manner and usually about trifles
2.
to have objections; scruple (at)
Word origin
prob. < ME stightlen, to rule, order, dispose, freq. of stighten, to dispose, destine < OE stihtan, prob. akin to Ger stiften, to arrange, establish: for prob. IE base see stiff
Examples of 'stickle' in a sentence
stickle
Gloves obviously completely ruined (like tiny hard leather claws now) but stickle bricks absolutely fine, indeed better than fine, vv clean.
Bénédicte Newland and Pascale Smets AND GOD CREATED THE AU PAIR (2005)