pettifogging

English

Verb

pettifogging

1. present participle and gerund of pettifog

Noun

pettifogging (plural pettifoggings)

1. pettifoggery
   • 1858–1865, Thomas Carlyle, History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC:

     […] lost in such a jungle of intrigues, pettifoggings, treacheries, diplomacies domestic and foreign […]

   • 1967, Agatha Christie, Endless Night:

     It's lots of other pettifogging, degrading things. Things you have to endure, things you never have to think about until they happen to you.