stickle
/ˈstɪk(ə)l/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.66 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
verb
To raise objections; to argue stubbornly, especially over minor or trivial matters.
British usage
Example Sentences
- "He swam through the plying poles of the stickle, and ran over the shallow, reaching safe water before the pack came down. He was young and fast and strong."
- "[P]atient Anglers ſtanding all the day / Neere to ſome ſhallovv ſtickle or deepe bay."
- "‘She has other people than poor little you to think about, and has gone abroad with them; so you needn’t be in the least afraid she’ll stickle this time for her rights.’"
- "Miserable new Berline! Why could not Royalty go in some old Berline similar to that of other men? Flying for life, one does not stickle about his vehicle."
- "Which [question] violently they pursue, / Nor stickled would they be."
- "They ran to him, and, pulling him back by force, stickled that unnatural fray."
Etymology
From Middle English *stikel, *stykyl (in compounds), from Old English sticel (“a prickle, sting, goad”), from Proto-Germanic *stiklaz, *stikilaz (“sting, stinger, peak, cup, goblet”), related to the verb *stikaną (“to stick”). Cognate with Dutch stekel, Icelandic stikill, Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌹𐌺𐌻𐍃 (stikls) (whence Russian стекло́ (stekló, “glass”), Polish szkło (“glass”), Lithuanian sti̇̀klas, Romanian sticlă).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *(s)teyg-, *stikel, sticel, *stiklaz, stikel, *stikulaz
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /ˈstɪk(ə)l/
Usage
Inflected Forms
stickles (plural)
more stickle (comparative)
most stickle (superlative)
stickles (present, singular)
stickling (participle, present)
stickled (participle, past)
stickled (past)