cavil

(redirected from caviler)
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Idioms, Encyclopedia.

cavil

verb attack, belittle, calumniari, carp, censure frivolously, complain frivolously, condemn, criticize frivolously, decry, denigrate, denounce, deprecate, deride, disapprove, discredit, disparage frivolously, faultfind, find fault with, haggle, object frivolously, protest frivolously, raise frivolous objection to, raise objections frivolously, raise specious objection to, reprehend, ridicule irresponsibly, vellicare

CAVIL. Sophism, subtlety. Cavilis a captious argument, by which a conclusion evidently false, is drawn from a principle evidently true: Ea est natura cavillationis ut ab evidenter veris, per brevissimas mutationes disputatio, ad ea quce evidentur falsa sunt perducatur. Dig. 60, 16, 177 et 233; Id. 17, 65; Id. 33, 2, 88.

References in periodicals archive ?

These words are impatient commands addressed by the revolutionaries to the cavilers, both local and foreign, who fear the solicitation of the status quo.

Arab Spring, 2011: a symptomatic reading of the revolution (to the memory of Edward W. Said)

In the JEE, we continued to encourage authors to use pretest and posttest, although it might be better to refer to these tests as pre-treatment and post-treatment test scores and avoid cavilers.

Potpourri: reflections from husband/wife academic editors

You may or may not agree with Cleveland Cavilers owner Dan Gilbert's statements concerning LeBron James' departure from Cleveland, but one thing is for sure: you've never seen anything like it.

Storylines Linger From LeBron James Departure, Gilbert Letter

London had used its walls to repel invaders in 1554 and had of necessity in 1568 supplied 4000 foot and 2000 carrying cavilers to the army against Scotland.