quarrel
/ˈkwɔɹəl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.31 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Often preceded by a form of to have: a basis or ground of dispute or objection; a complaint; also, a feeling or situation of ill will and unhappiness caused by this.
Countable
Example Sentences
- "We got into a silly quarrel about what food to order."
- "And let a Man bevvare, hovv he keepeth Company, vvith Cholerick and Quarelſome Perſons; for they vvill engage him into their ovvne Quarels."
- "Quarrels would not last long, if the fault was only on one side."
- "But capital was proving difficult to raise; rumours were in the air that the G.W.R. and L.S.W.R. were about to patch up their quarrel, and the people of Southampton, who twelve months earlier had staged a torch-light procession to celebrate the passing of the D.N.S.R. Act, were increasingly loath to part with their cash."
- "All quarrels halt at the grave."
- "A few customers in the shop had some quarrels with us, so we called for the manager."
Etymology
From Middle English querele (“altercation, dispute; argument, debate; armed combat; trial by combat; basis for dispute, complaint; claim, legal suit; a lament; illness”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman querele [and other forms] and Middle French querele, querelle (“altercation, dispute; basis for dispute; side in a dispute; complaint; accusation; legal suit; lament; problem”) (modern French querelle), and from their etymon Latin querēla, querella (“dispute; argument; complaint, grievance; legal complaint; lament; illness”), from querī + -ēla, -ella (suffix forming nouns). querī (“to complain; to bewail, lament; to be indignant”) comes from Proto-Indo-European *ḱwes- (“to puff; to sigh”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkwɔɹəl/
- British English: /ˈkwɒɹ(ə)l/
Usage
Inflected Forms
quarrels (plural)
quarrell (alternative, obsolete)
quarrels (present, singular)
quarreling (US, participle)
quarrelling (UK, participle)
quarreled (US, participle)
quarreled (US, past)
quarrelled (UK, participle)
quarrelled (UK, past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
quarrelled (first person, past)