squabbling

verb

present participle of squabble
as in bickering
to express different opinions about something often angrily the children squabbled loudly over who got to play with the toy first

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of squabbling Mills, sympathetic to conspiratorial beliefs about the 2020 election and hailed by some election skeptics as a champion of voting integrity, has long clashed with members, squabbling over his power. — Caleb Groves, AJC.com, 9 Oct. 2026 Later in the day, on the other hand, the artificial grass was hardly visible under the beach towels, and there were parents with squabbling children doing cannonballs into the pool. — Elvira Navarro, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026 There were the two seen squabbling with Jackie last month, another Shadow batted out of the nest before Luna and Sandy left and now eaglet KD1 is making her presence known. — Joy Benedict, CBS News, 12 Aug. 2026 The squabbling banter between the two is priceless, even endearing. — Randy Myers, Mercury News, 28 July 2026 The Greek myths are rife with petty and meddlesome deities squabbling, playing favorites, punishing harshly, and otherwise wreaking havoc on the lives of mortal men. — Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 17 July 2026 The actor ended up calling attention to his own hat after squabbling with cast member Sarah Sherman — who, to match the country singer's vibe, pulled up in a cowboy hat, leaving Gosling as the odd man out. — Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 30 June 2026 With supply shrinking, the states continue squabbling. — Trevor Hughes, USA Today, 26 June 2026 Parties generally avoid this kind of squabbling in wide-open governor’s races by letting the candidates compete and seeing who wins the primary, said Gregory Koger, a political science professor at the University of Miami. — Jeffrey Schweers, The Orlando Sentinel, 21 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for squabbling
  1. bickering
  2. arguing
  3. quarreling
  4. fighting
Verb
  • Like law enforcement agents everywhere, they’re disposed to bickering about jurisdiction or pumping each other for off-limits information.
    — Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 21 Sep. 2026
  • There’s striker Josie Gordon, bickering twin sisters Siobhan and Niamh, glove-shunning goalie Katie ‘Boots’ Quinn and couple Maddie and Margy.
    — Hannah Abraham, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of bickering
Verb
  • When Albin returned to the question of which country posed the greater threat to American interests, el Sayed again declined to choose between them, arguing that both had demonstrated the capacity to cause harm.
    — Barnini Chakraborty, The Washington Examiner, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Claims of extensive cooperation Before sentencing, Wandner urged Altman to impose a sentence below the advisory guidelines, arguing that his client’s assistance to investigators had been unusually valuable.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of arguing
Verb
  • Sunday, a caller reported hearing two men quarreling and someone stating that a person would be taken into custody.
    — Adam Harrington, CBS News, 21 Sep. 2026
  • But for Benjamin Franklin, the Haudenosaunee’s federal governing model was a perfect solution for how to get quarreling colonies to work together.
    — Scott Baldauf, Christian Science Monitor, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of quarreling
Verb
  • Karen Huger is sober, Wendy Osefo is fighting to reclaim her reputation, Tia’s husband is cheating on her, and Ashley Darby remains committed to the sacred constitutional right to be in everybody’s business but her own.
    — Shamira Ibrahim, Vulture, 12 Oct. 2026
  • More than 8,000 of his employees are fighting Russian forces.
    — Kamal Ahmed, Fortune, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of fighting

Browse Nearby Words

squabbles
squabbling
squabs
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Cite this Entry

“Squabbling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/squabbling. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

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