▪ I. niggle, n.
(ˈnɪg(ə)l)
[f. niggle v.2]
1. Small cramped handwriting.
| 1834 Hood Tylney Hall Introd., Sometimes it is a little close niggle, as if you studied economy in stationery. 1856 C. M. Yonge Daisy Chain i. xviii, Ethel's best writing was an upright, disjointed, niggle. Ibid., A still wilder combination of scramble, niggle, scratch, and crookedness. |
2. A complaint or criticism, esp. one that is petty or trifling; a worry, annoyance; nagging or irritation.
| 1886 F. T. Elworthy West Somerset Word-Bk. 512 Her's always 'pon the niggle way un. 1956 I. Bromige Enchanted Garden iii. iii. 144, I even feel a few little niggles of uneasiness myself. 1960 Guardian 11 June 1/5 The poor quality of contemporary furniture..can be the only niggle. 1966 New Statesman 8 July 51/3 How much of us will be recognisable in the pages of the history books of 2066? This egoist's niggle spiralled up into my mind. 1972 M. Gilbert Body of Girl xii. 106 If the boys in blue can get in a niggle at you, they will. 1974 Times Lit. Suppl. 15 Feb. 158/3 In view..of the fact that his book should..go into a second edition.., one or two minor niggles may conveniently be ventilated. |
▪ II. † niggle, v.1 Obs. Cant.
Also 6 nygle, 7 nigle.
[Of obscure origin: cf. next.]
intr. and trans. (See quot. 1567.)
| 1567 Harman Caveat (1869) 84 To nygle, to haue to do with a woman carnally. 1608 Dekker Lanth. & Candle Lt. Bij b, If we niggle, or mill a bowsing Ken..If an ale⁓house we rob, or be tane with a whore. 1622 Fletcher Beggars' Bush ii. i, Hub. How long has she been here? Snap. Long enough to be..nigled, an' she ha'..good luck. |
▪ III. niggle, v.2
(ˈnɪg(ə)l)
Also 8 nigle.
[App. of Scandinavian origin, being current chiefly in northern dial., and corresponding both in form and meaning to Norw. nigla (Aasen and Ross), with the variants nagla and nugla. The precise meaning in some of the early examples is not quite clear; for the numerous variations of sense in dial. use, see Eng. Dial. Dict.]
1. a. intr. To work, or do anything, in a trifling, fiddling, or ineffective way; to trifle († with a thing); to spend work or time unnecessarily on petty details; to be over-elaborate in minor points.
| a 1616 Beaum. & Fl. Little French Lawyer iv. v, That Little Lawyer would so..bite your honour by the nose,..So niggle about your grave shins, lord Vertaigne. 1631 Massinger Emperor East v. iii, Take heed, daughter, You niggle not with your conscience. 1839 C. Clark J. Noakes lxii, Long she'd niggle at her glass. 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss. s.v., How you are niggling over your work; it is not worth the time. 1883 Black Yolande xlix, It was only to have been a sketch. And he has kept on niggling and niggling away at it. 1893 J. A. Barry S. Brown's Bunyip, etc. 56 For a while they niggles away at the big butt, turn an' turn about. |
b. To trot about, keep moving along, in a fiddling or ineffective manner.
| 1781 F. Burney Diary Aug., When I have nobody at all at my place but workmen;..I niggle after them up and down. 1833 Sir F. B. Head Bubbles fr. Brunnen 246 The river, as one niggles along, is seen bit by bit from the steam-boat. 1849 E. B. Eastwick Dry Leaves 193 A fidgetty high-mettled steed, which dislikes a dozen of ragged galloways niggling along within a yard of its tail. |
c. To get on in a kind of way with one.
| 1837 Lady Dacre in Friendships Miss Mitford (1882) II. 21, I shall try to niggle on with her; but I am too deaf and old, I fear, to scrape acquaintance with a young person. |
d. To be unnecessarily critical or over-precise.
| 1844 W. Barnes Poems Rural Life 1st Coll. 330 Niggle, to complain of trifles from ill temper or bad humor. 1891 Black Stand Fast, Craig-R. vi, ‘Come, come, aunt’, said he, ‘it isn't like you to niggle about nothing’. 1929 W. Deeping Roper's Row xxviii. 312 He would niggle at his food. 1966 ‘L. Lane’ ABZ of Scouse 75 Niggle, to question; to raise objections. 1974 Sunday Post (Glasgow) 21 Apr. 16 (Advt.), Your accounts director won't niggle at the bill at the Ormonde Restaurant (just a high-speed lift away from your room). |
2. Of girls: To be restless or fidgetty from wantonness or amorous inclination. ? Obs.
| 1706 Estcourt Fair Example iv. i, Had you been one of the fluttering Fops o' the Town, she had so wrigl'd and nigl'd, and have been so glad of your Company. 1793 Pearce Hartford Bridge ii. i, They giggle, simper, Niggle and whimper, And try to lure wherever they go. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas iv. vii. ¶13 My little pet..niggled, nudged, toyed, and romped, like a school-girl in vacation. |
3. trans. a. To cheat, trick.
| 1621 Fletcher Pilgrim iv. iii, I shall so niggle you, And juggle you; and fiddle you, and firk you. 1719 D'Urfey Pills (1872) II. 111 To purge my sins, And buy me Pins, I've nigled an old Parson. |
b. To draw out unwillingly.
| 1630 Dekker 2nd Pt. Honest Wh. Wks. 1873 II. 133, I had but one poore penny, and that I was glad to niggle out, and buy a holly-wand. |
c. To execute in a petty trifling manner.
| 1860 E. FitzGerald Lett. (1889) I. 276 Think of the Acres of Canvas Titian or Reynolds would have covered..in the Time it has taken to niggle this Miniature! |
d. To annoy, irritate; to criticize, nag.
| 1886 F. T. Elworthy West Somerset Word-Bk. 512 Niggle, same as to nag. To aggravate. Her'd niggle anybody's live out o' them, nif they'd let her to. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. x. 178 A short-tempered person is spoken of as being..niggled or niggly. 1968 A. Diment Great Spy Race iv. 47 He is liable to start demanding mass executions when niggled. 1971 A. Price Alamut Ambush 6 He was mildly niggled that Maitland had found himself some other pressing engagement. |
Hence niggled (ˈnɪg(ə)ld) ppl. a., done with too much minuteness or petty detail; over-elaborated.
| 1884 Century Mag. Dec. 207 They..are niggled little drawings, carefully worked up with the point. 1888 Art Jrnl. II. 61/2 Its careful but not niggled workmanship. 1893 Nation (N.Y.) 19 Jan. 47/1 His more finished designs..are hopelessly niggled. |