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Verb: cavil (cavilled,cavilling, or [US] caviled,caviling)  ka-vul
  1. Raise trivial objections
    - carp, chicane
Noun: cavil  ka-vul
  1. An evasion of the point of an argument by raising irrelevant distinctions or objections
    "Instead of addressing the main issue, he resorted to cavils about the wording of the proposal";
    - quibble, quiddity

Derived forms: caviling, cavilled, cavils, cavilling, caviled

Type of: equivocation, evasion, object

Encyclopedia: Cavil