pettifog

pettifog
/pet"ee fog', -fawg'/, v.i., pettifogged, pettifogging.
1. to bicker or quibble over trifles or unimportant matters.
2. to carry on a petty, shifty, or unethical law business.
3. to practice chicanery of any sort.
[1605-15; back formation from pettifogger, equiv. to PETTY + fogger < MLG voger or MD voeger one who arranges things; akin to OE gefog a joining]

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Pettifog — Pet ti*fog, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Pettifogged}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Pettifogging}.] [Petty + fog to pettifog.] To do a petty business as a lawyer; also, to do law business in a petty or tricky way. He takes no money, but pettifogs gratis. S. Butler.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Pettifog — Pet ti*fog, v. t. To advocate like a pettifogger; to argue trickily; as, to pettifog a claim. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • pettifog — I verb beguile, bluff, cavil, circumvent, connive, deceive, dodge, dupe, ensnare, evade, fence, mislead, outmaneuver, palter, prevaricate, split hairs, trick, trifle II index cheat, circumvent Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • pettifog — verb To quibble over trivial matters; nitpick Dont pettifog or we will soon grow weary. See Also: pettifogger …   Wiktionary

  • pettifog — Synonyms and related words: argue, argufy, bandy words, bicker, carp, catch at straws, cavil, choplogic, contend, contest, cross swords, cut and thrust, cut up, discept, dispute, fault find, find fault, give and take, hassle, have it out, join… …   Moby Thesaurus

  • pettifog — (Roget s Thesaurus II) verb To raise unnecessary or trivial objections: carp, cavil, niggle, nitpick, quibble. Idiom: pick to pieces. See SUPPORT …   English dictionary for students

  • pettifog —  Quibble over petty matters; legal trickery …   Bryson’s dictionary for writers and editors

  • pettifog — petɪfÉ‘g , fÉ”g / fÉ’g v. cheat, deceive; swindle, defraud …   English contemporary dictionary

  • pettifog — verb (pettifogs, pettifogging, pettifogged) archaic 1》 quibble about petty points. 2》 practise legal deception or trickery. Derivatives pettifoggery noun Origin C17: back form. from pettifogger …   English new terms dictionary

  • pettifog — v 1. quibble, cavil, Inf. nitpick, belabor a point, split hairs, chop logic, trifle, beg the question; bicker, bandy words, moot, sift, Inf. kick around, Sl. hash over; wrangle, altercate, jangle, quarrel, squabble, haggle, Sl. hassle, Scot.… …   A Note on the Style of the synonym finder

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