squabbling

Etymology

verb

1. present participle and gerund of squabble

noun

1. A petty argument or conflict.
   Since the provinces declared their independence, broils and squabblings of one sort and another have greatly retarded the advancement which they might otherwise have made. 1840, Robert Chambers, William Chambers, Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, volume 8, page 382
   And as for ancient history, I think a good share of that could be bonfired. Kings, Emperors, Popes, Doges, Consuls, Priests, Shahs, Pharoahs, and all their quarrels and squabblings, with the times and seasons of the same—what a fine blaze they would make, and it is the only fine thing they could make, as I count it. 1894, William Hawley Smith, “House-cleaning and History”, in Walks Abroad and Talks about Them, Peoria, Ill.: Educational Press Association, →OCLC, page 210
   The foolish squabblings of old-wivish theologians over unimportant issues in Holy Writ, the sick frenzies of fanatical Catholics and Calvinists, the spiritual darkness of the Middle Ages and bygone centuries, none of these escape the whip of the author, who scourges them as the usurers driven from the Temple of God. 1928 November, Regina Miriam Bloch, “[Reviews] Prophezeiungen: Alter Aberglaube oder neue Wahrheit. By Dr. Max Kemmerich. 3rd edition. Aus der Geschichte der menschlichen Dummheit. By Dr. Max Kemmerich.[…]”, in The Occult Review, volume XLVIII, number 5, London: Rider & Co., page 359