▪ I. cavilling, vbl. n.
(ˈkævɪlɪŋ)
[f. as prec. + -ing1.]
The action of the verb to cavil; captious objection or frivolous fault-finding.
| 1565–78 Cooper Thesaur., Captio in verbis, captious cavilling in wordes. 1656 Artif. Handsomeness 66 These..fall to cavillings and menacings. 1840 Carlyle Heroes (1858) 361 Bottomless cavillings and questionings about written laws. 1857 Buckle Civilis. I. 751 It is not such petty cavilling which can destroy an European reputation. |
▪ II. ˈcavilling, ppl. a.
[f. as prec. + -ing2.]
That cavils, captious; also, fraudulent, sophistical (obs.).
| 1578 Banister Hist. Man iv. 63 To shunne..the cauelyng tauntes of straungers. 1582 Bentley Mon. Matrones ii. 204 The caueling aduersarie, the enimie of mankind. 1633 T. Stafford Pac. Hib. iii. (1821) 258 They did use to buy old caveling titles. 1691 Hartcliffe Virtues 239 An Ignorant Grammarian or a Cavelling Logician. 1692 Bentley Boyle Lect. iv. 116. 1835 Willis Pencillings II. xxxix. 18 The most cavilling mind must applaud their devoted sense of duty. |
Hence cavillingly adv., in a cavilling manner; cavillingness, the disposition to cavil.
| 1563 Foxe A. & M. (1596) 46/1 Nero and Domitian..cauillinglie obiected against our doctrine. 1642 J. Eaton Free Justif. 273 As they likewise cavillingly object. 1818 Todd Cavillingness. |