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Definition of "pettifog" [pet•ti•fog]

  • To act like a pettifogger. See Synonyms at quibble. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "pettifog" in a sentence
  • "Yet Phil Woolas, the immigration minister (and, as I well remember a nasty little self-centred careerist when he was head of the National Union Students in my college days - a real horrible little greasy pole climber who obviously hasn't changed one jot) continues to prevaricate and pettifog."
  • "Let the rest of the guttersnipes pettifog about celebrity doping."
  • "BTW My lawschool study group met in a Brownstone actually red brick, but why pettifog on Warren St off Court, not far from your address."