bicker
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bicker¹
- /ˈbɪkɚ/ US
- /ˈbɪkə/ UK
Rhymes with -ɪkə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
From Middle English bikeren (“to attack”), from Middle Dutch bicken (“to stab, thrust, attack”) + -er (frequentative suffix), from Old Dutch *bikken, from Proto-West Germanic *bikkjan, from Proto-Germanic *bikjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg- (“to smash, break”).
See also Old English becca (“pickax”), Dutch bikken (“to hack”), German picken (“to peck, pick at”), Old Norse bikkja (“to plunge into water”); compare also German Low German bickern (“to nibble, gnaw”).
verb bickers · bickering · bickered
- To quarrel in a tiresome, insulting manner. They bickered about dinner every evening.
- To brawl or move tremulously, quiver, shimmer (of a water stream, light, flame, etc.) Mean time unnumber'd glittering Streamlets play'd, / And hurled every-where their Waters ſheen; / That, as they bicker'd through the ſunny Glade, / Though reſtleſs ſtill themſelves, a lulling Murmur made.
- To patter.
- To skirmish; to exchange blows; to fight. And at the field fought before Bebriacum, ere the battailes joyned, tvvo Ægles had a conflict and bickered together in all their fights: and vvhen the one of them was foyled and overcome, a third came at the very inſtant from the ſunne riſing and chaſed the Victreſſe avvay.
Similar: wrangle
noun bickers
- A skirmish; an encounter.
- A fight with stones between two parties of boys. Even if he did not take part in the fighting himself, he was no doubt familiar with those who had been taught, ass Darsie Latimer was by Alan Fairford, to "smoke a cobbler, spin a lozen, head a bicker, and hold the bannets" - in other words, to break a window, head a skirmish with stones, and hold t
- A wrangle; also, a noise, as in angry contention.
- The process by which selective eating clubs at Princeton University choose new members. Bicker process varies by club, and there are often concerns of the rights of female students during bicker […]
bicker²
- /ˈbɪkɚ/ US
- /ˈbɪkə/ UK
Rhymes with -ɪkə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
From Scots bicker, from Middle English biker. Doublet of beaker.
noun bickers
- A wooden drinking-cup or other dish. …the liquors were handed around in great fulness, the ale in large wooden bickers, and the brandy in capacious horns of oxen.
Bicker³
proper noun
- A surname.
Thesaurus
verb
Similar: wrangle
Translations
Every language
verb quarrel in a tiresome manner
| Español | discutir |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 喧嘩する kenkasuru |
| 中文 | 鬥嘴 /斗嘴 dòuzuǐ |
| Português | rixar |
| Deutsch | sich zanken |
| Italiano | bisticciare, litigare |
| Русский | переру́гиваться pererúgivatʹsja, препира́ться prepirátʹsja |
Talk about this word "bicker." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/bicker. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. bicker. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/bicker "bicker." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/bicker.Cite this
@misc{bicker_2026,
title = {bicker},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/bicker},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
