split hairs
English edit
Etymology edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation edit
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Noun edit
- (idiomatic) Tedious details; minutiae.
- 1999 February 4, Lev Grossman, “Microsoft Tangled Up in Videotape Evidence”, in Time:
- The Microsoft trial had been in danger of slipping out of the public eye. Its endless procession of less-than-riveting economics professors and forgetful executives, mixed with scads of legal and technical split hairs, just hasn't made for gripping headlines.
Translations edit
tedious details
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Verb edit
split hairs (third-person singular simple present splits hairs, present participle splitting hairs, simple past and past participle split hairs)
- (idiomatic) To consider or argue about fine details; to worry about minutiae.
- Synonym: cavil
- Let's get everything sorted into the right drawers and not split hairs about subdividing it further yet.
Related terms edit
Translations edit
to consider fine details
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