▪ I. ˈwrangling, vbl. n.
[f. wrangle v. + -ing1.]
1. The action of the verb; noisy quarrelling.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. iv. 34 There as wratthe and wranglyng is þere wynne þei siluer. 1551 Gardner Explic. Christ's Presence 14 As for such other wranglyng..shall after be spoken of by further occasion. 1598 Florio, Contèsa,..a strife, a debate or wrangling. 1653 W. Ramesey Astrol. Restored 137 Mars..causes discord and wrangling. 1722 Ramsay Three Bonnets iv. 137 The king of brutes..wad.. rage Wi' bootless wrangling in his cage. 1813 Scott Rokeby iii. xii, Though wild debate And wrangling rend our infant state. 1882 Sir C. Dilke in Gwynn Life (1917) I. 426 Much unseemly wrangling would be prevented for many years. |
| fig. 1609 R. Armin Maids of More-cl. C 2 b, 'Twill become ye, well, when wrangling wrestles with such violent iniurie. |
b. Controversial argument or debate; contentious disputation.
| 1612 Brinsley Lud. Lit. 219 There falleth out amongst them oft-times..much wrangling about the questions. 1641 Milton Reform. 25 What wrangling the Bishops and Monks had about the reading, or not reading of Origen. 1679 Penn Addr. Prot. ii. ii. (1692) 71 Philosophy..became little else than an Art of Rangling upon a multitude of Idle Questions. 1720 S. Payne Bp. R. Cumberland's Sanchon. p. xxvii, His Averseness to any thing like Wrangling made him..leave his Book to shift for it self. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 334 All that wrangling and witticism wherewith the prophecies..have been pelted by freethinkers. 1827 Whateley Logic 26 A system of such rules..must, instead of deserving to be called the art of wrangling, be [etc.]. 1879 Froude Cæsar xxv. 436 A refuge from platform oratory and senatorial wrangling. |
| attrib. c 1700 Pomfret Strephon's Love 10 Those dull, pedantic rules, They had collected from the wrangling schools. 1708 Rowe Royal Convert i. i, Unpractis'd in Disputes, and wrangling Schools. |
2. A wrangle; a noisy quarrel.
| 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 472 They that can-not suffer the wranglyngs of young marryed women. 1605 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. Vocation 1152 He heard amid the street A wrangling, jangling, and a murmur rude. 1668 Glanvill Plus Ultra Pref., Consider me as a Person that contemns all Wranglings. 1727 Swift To Stella 7 Not in Wranglings to engage With such a stupid vicious Age. 1788 V. Knox Winter Even. lxx. (1790) II. 530 The wranglings of Cambridge, and the disputations at Oxford, are apt to give young men a controversial turn, which [etc.]. 1821 Byron Sardan. ii. i, Truce with these wranglings, and but hear me! 1890 Talmage Fr. Manger to Throne 562 Unseemly wranglings concerning who should be greatest in the kingdom of Christ. |
▪ II. ˈwrangling, ppl. a. [f. as prec. + -ing2.] 1. That wrangles, quarrels, or disputes; engaged or embroiled in, given or addicted to, noisy altercation or dispute; contentious.
| 1487 Cely Papers (Camden) 161 Hys atorney ys a wranglyng felow, he wold non odyr mony but nemyng grotes. a 1529 Skelton Agst. Garnesche ii. 40 Thow manytycore, ye marmoset,..Wranglynge, waywyrde, wytles, wraw, and no⁓thyng meke. 1581 A. Hall Iliad v. 100 Mars is a wrangling craking wretche. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. vii. xxxiv, The third Hæreticus, a wrangling carle. 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. i. xxxi. (1674) 36 It might serve..for a Lesson to wrangling Courtiers. 1718 Pope Let. to Caryll 18 Jan., The unrighteous labours of wrangling statesmen, and the quarrelsome ones of uncharitable divines. 1759 Dilworth Pope 39 After the death of poor wrangling Dennis. 1820 Wordsw. ‘Dogmatic Teachers’ 2 Ye wrangling Schoolmen, of the scarlet hood! 1825 Scott Betrothed Concl., For wrangling curs will fight over a banquet as fiercely as over a bare bone. 1846 A. Marsh Father Darcy II. v. 112 The wrangling nobles of Philistia. |
| transf. and fig. 1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus Dd iv, A wrangling tongue is the best language thou hast. a 1721 Sheffield (Dk. Buckhm.) Wks. (1753) I. 15 Thy happy stroke can into softness bring Reason, that rough and wrangling thing. 1898 Meredith Odes Fr. Hist., Revolution xiii, And he, the bright day's husband,..Beheld a wrangling heart, as 'twere her soul On eddies of wild waters cast. 1899 Swinburne Rosamund i. 18 Let no wrangling breath distune the peace That shines..about us. |
b. Noisy; clamorous; also
transf., jangling.
| 1608 Machin Dumb Knt. iii. E 3 b, When the sad nurse to still the wrangling babe, Shall sing the carefull story of my death. 1845 Longfellow Belfry of Bruges, Carillon ii, When the wrangling bells had ended. 1856 Mrs. Gore Life's Lessons II. 227 Her remote Dale, with its wrangling beck. 1891 Athenæum 15 Aug. 214/1 So has it fared with the marshlands..with their wrangling sea-fowl. |
2. Of the nature of wrangling; contentious, noisy, clamorous.
| 1551 Gardner Explic. Christ's Presence 43 Wherof this auctor may not thinke nowe as vpon a wranglyng argument, to satisfie a coniecture diuised. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World iii. vi. §6 To finde him busie in wrangling altercation. 1641 Milton Animadv. 57 Because hee may not as a Judge sit out the wrangling noyse of litigious Courts. 1663 Bp. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. xix, This wrangling piece of Learning. 1722 Horrobin in Keble Life Bp. Wilson (1863) 507 The wrangling, jangling disputes about the Divinity of our Saviour. 1753 J. Collier Art Torment. (1811) 216 Some wrangling dispute or other that shall sour the whole company. |
3. Marked or characterized by noisy or contentious disputation or altercation.
| 1576 Whetstone Rock of Regard i. 97 A wrangling hate, where once was passing loue. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, ii. iv. 55 Accursed, and vnquiet wrangling dayes. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 251 Our wrangling humour and desire to be cavilling about questions disputable. 1628 May Virg. Georg. ii. 61 He sees no wrangling courts, no lawes undone By sword. 1656 Cowley Pindar. Odes, Destinie iii, Thou neither great at Court,..Nor at th' Exchange shalt be, nor at the wrangling Bar. 1715 Pope Iliad ii. 307 Peace, factious monster, born to vex the state, With wrangling talents form'd for foul debate. 1851 Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. xxxiv. 262 It is hard to behold the worshipped men of our wrangling days become degraded under modern light. 1883 Whitelaw Sophocles, Antigone 111 At call of Polyneices, stirred By bitter heat of wrangling claims, Against our land they gathered. |
Hence
ˈwranglingly adv.| 1611 Cotgr., Tempestativement,..contentiously, seditiously, wranglingly. 1698 Norris Pract. Disc. IV. 65 We should..discourse of it not..Wranglingly and Contentiously,..but Cordially and Spiritually. |