''pettifog'' ▫ᴱᴺ Entries

↩ 🔳 🔳 🔳

---

Primary

⁀➴

''pettifog'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260904120411-00-⌔

pettifog - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Verb

pettifog (third-person singular simple present pettifogs, present participle pettifogging, simple past and past participle pettifogged)

• (intransitive) To quibble over trivial matters; nitpick.
  • ✤ Don’t pettifog or we will soon grow weary.
  • ✤ [Deacon Mushrat to Pogo:] The Machiavellian barratry of a pettifogging public has maundered into do-nothingism.¹
• (intransitive) To do a petty business as a lawyer, or carry out law business in a petty or tricky way.
  • ✤ He is a common barreter for his pleasure, that takes no money, but pettifogs gratis.²

Etymology

Back-formation from pettifogger.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈpɛt.iˌfɒɡ/
• Audio (Southern England): 🔊

Printed 2026-09-04.

(echo:: @ ⌗)

Footnotes

1. 1959 April 24, Walt Kelly, Pogo, comic strip, →ISBN, page 35: ↩

2. c. 1840, “Samuel Butler”, in Lives of Eminent and Illustrious Englishmen: ↩

Link to original

Secondary

• • •

---