Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Language: Latin
Origin: cavillari 'to joke, cavil', from cavilla 'joking'

cavil

 verb
     
cav‧il past tense and past participle cavilled, present participle cavilling British English, past tense and past participle caviled, present participle caviling American English [intransitive] formal
to make unnecessary complaints about someone or something
cavil at
They cavilled at our calculations.
—cavil noun [uncountable and countable]
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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