▪ I. ˈhiggling, vbl. n.
[f. higgle v. + -ing1.]
1. The action of the vb. higgle; close bargaining, chaffering; stickling as to terms.
| 1700 T. Brown tr. Fresny's Amusem. Ser. & Com. 78 There is much Higling and Wrangling for t'other Ten Pound. 1776 Adam Smith W. N. i. v. (1869) I. 32 It is adjusted by the higgling and bargaining of the market. 1860 Motley Netherl. (1868) I. vi. 329 Saguntum was perishing while the higgling went on at Rome. |
2. The occupation of a higgler (senses 2, 2 b).
| 1790 J. B. Moreton Mann. W. Ind. 85 That sort of traffic called higling. 1832 Boston Herald 22 May 3/3 [One] who keeps what is called a higgling team. 1882 Athenæum 26 Aug. 271/2 Students of peculiar manners..will be glad to obtain the capital paper on Sussex higgling. |
▪ II. ˈhiggling, ppl. a.
[f. as prec. +-ing2.]
That higgles; cavilling, wrangling.
| 1678 Otway Friendship in F. Epil. 21 For shame leave off this higling way of Wit, Railing abroad, and roaring in the Pit. 1691 Shadwell Scowrers iv. i, This morning I beat twenty higling-women. 1815 Sporting Mag. XLV. 225 The higgling disposition of the French. 1830 in Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) II. 308 A sort of higgling merchant. |