dicker
/ˈdɪkə
/verb [no object] chiefly North American
1Engage in petty argument or bargaining: Sam advised him not to dicker over the extra fee...
- ‘Let's not dicker over minor issues,’ says Prof. Zhang Yansheng of Beijing's Central University of Finance and Economics.
- But the plan has stalled as Morocco and Polisario dicker over who is eligible to vote in the referendum.
- In Simms's world, there is no reason anymore for shoppers to visit a classic used-car lot, where they might see a selection of 150 or so cars that forces them to figure out what comes closest to their desires - and then to dicker over price.
2Toy or fiddle with: the company was still dickering with its pricing schedule...
- Nobody dickered with it, she had to find the best cameraman she could, to get a print as clean and as fresh as that.
- So you can, you know, dicker around with it, which the Republicans love to do, but the reality is things are better.
- My most successful project has been dickering with the random search device at my place of work.
Derivatives
dickerer
- Days before the Conference met last week, Ottawa swarmed with lobbyists and dickerers from all parts of the Empire and the world.
- His picture of God as a cosmic dickerer purposely makes God petty and foolish, so much so that we scornfully, angrily reject it.
Origin
Early 19th century (originally US): perhaps from obsolete dicker 'set of ten (hides'), used as a unit of trade, based on Latin decem 'ten'.