Link Centre Dictionary

quarrel

quar·rel

UK/ˈkwɒɹ(ə)l/ US/ˈkwɔɹəl/ fairly common
verb (1) noun (2)

verb

1.

have a disagreement over something

  • “We quarreled over the question as to who discovered America”
  • “These tewo fellows are always scrapping over something”
Synonyms

noun

1.

an angry dispute

  • “they had a quarrel”
  • “they had words”
Synonyms
2.

an arrow that is shot from a crossbow; has a head with four edges

Origin

PIE word *kʷetwóres From Middle English quarrel (“bolt for an arbalest, crossbow, or siege engine; (figurative) seductive glance, temptation to sin; needle (possibly one square in cross-section); small (perhaps square-shaped) opening in window tracery; a cushion (perhaps square-shaped)”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman quarel, quarele, quarrel, Middle French quarrel, and Old French quarel, quarrel, carrel (“crossbow bolt; floor tile or paving stone (rectangular- or square-shaped); small glass pane for windows”) (modern French carreau (“crossbow bolt; a tile; windowpane; a square”)), from Late Latin quarellus, quadrellus (“crossbow bolt; paving stone; a tile”), from Latin quadrum (“a square; square section; regular shape or form”) + -ellus (variant of -ulus (suffix forming diminutive nouns, indicating small size or youth)). Quadrum is ultimately derived from quattuor (“four”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres (“four”). Doublet of carreau.

Phrases

  • it takes two to make a quarrel
  • it takes two to quarrel
  • pick a quarrel
  • quarrel out
  • quarrel with

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.