Definitions for cavil
ˈkæv əlcav·il

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. quibble, quiddity, cavilverb

   an evasion of the point of an argument by raising irrelevant distinctions or objections

2. cavil, carp, chicaneverb

   raise trivial objections

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. cavilnoun

   A petty or trivial objection or criticism

2. cavilverb

   To criticise for petty or frivolous reasons.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Cavilnoun

   False or frivolous objections.

   Etymology: from the verb.

   Wiser men consider how subject the best things have been unto cavil, when wits, possessed with disdain, have set them up as their mark to shoot at. Richard Hooker, b. v. § 4.

   Several divines, in order to answer the cavils of those adversaries to truth and morality, began to find out farther explanations. Jonathan Swift.

2. To Cavilverb

   To receive or treat with objections.

   Thou didst accept them: wilt thou enjoy the good,
   Then cavil the conditions? Paradise Lost, b. x. l. 579.

3. To CAVILverb

   To raise captious and frivolous objections.

   Etymology: caviller, Fr. cavillari, Lat.

   I’ll give thrice so much land
   To any well deserving friend;
   But, in the way of bargain, mark ye me,
   I’ll cavil on the ninth part of a hair. William Shakespeare, Henry IV.

   My lord, you do not well, in obstinacy
   To cavil in the course of this contract. William Shakespeare, Henry VI.

   He cavils first at the poet’s insisting so much upon the effects of Achilles’s rage. Alexander Pope, Iliad. Notes on the.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:2.0 / 1 vote

1. Cavilverb

   to raise captious and frivolous objections; to find fault without good reason

2. Cavilverb

   to cavil at

3. Cavilnoun

   a captious or frivolous objection

4. Etymology: [L. cavillari to practice jesting, to censure, fr. cavilla bantering jests, sophistry: cf. OF. caviller.]

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Cavil

   kav′il, v.t. to make empty, trifling objections: to use false arguments:—pr.p. cav′illing; pa.p. cav′illed.—n. a frivolous objection.—ns. Cavillā′tion, Cav′illing; Cav′iller. [O. Fr. caviller—L. cavillāri, to practise jesting—cavilla, jesting.]

Dictionary of Nautical TermsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. cavil

   A large cleat for belaying the fore and main tacks, sheets, and braces to. (See KEVELS.)

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. CAVIL

   According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Cavil is ranked #62359 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
   
   The Cavil surname appeared 321 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Cavil.
   
   48.6% or 156 total occurrences were Black.
   42% or 135 total occurrences were White.
   4.9% or 16 total occurrences were of two or more races.
   3.1% or 10 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.

Anagrams for cavil »

1. lavic

How to pronounce cavil?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say cavil in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of cavil in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of cavil in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of cavil in a Sentence

1. Walt Whitman:

   I say that democracy can never prove itself beyond cavil, until it founds and luxuriantly grows its own forms of art, poems, schools, theology, displacing all that exists, or that has been produced anywhere in the past, under opposite influences.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=cavil
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Cavil
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=cavil
4. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cavil
5. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=cavil
6. ^ Dictionary of Nautical Terms
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/26000/pg26000-images.html#:~:text=cavil
7. ^ Surnames Frequency by Census Records
   https://www.census.gov/topics/population/genealogy/data/2010_surnames.html