How to Use squabble in a Sentence

squabble

1 of 2 noun
  • His house was the vault of ugly memories: the fights, the squabbles, the taunts, the slurs.
    Gregory M. Collins, National Review, 27 Dec. 2023
  • No squabble that can’t be dismissed with a smile and a song.
    David L. Coddon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 May 2023
  • On the surface, the squabble over the Asi is highly local.
    New York Times, 21 June 2021
  • Sadly, the prison yard squabble turns bloody the next day, and James is killed when a brawl breaks out.
    Lincee Ray, EW.com, 7 Mar. 2022
  • Nichols has for the first time addressed the squabble and its causes.
    Brian Steinberg, Variety, 30 Sep. 2022
  • And all without even a hint of a squabble over a suitcase.
    Jessica Burrell, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 Feb. 2024
  • The gesture is used later in the season to quell a squabble.
    Emily Heil, Anchorage Daily News, 1 July 2023
  • This isn't the first time Journey has been in the news for a squabble between bandmates.
    Rasha Ali, USA TODAY, 22 Dec. 2022
  • During a squabble, one of the partners threw a pair of scissors at him.
    James R. Hagerty, WSJ, 18 Nov. 2022
  • Sometimes a fight broke out, and the staff would guide those in the squabble to separate ends of the shelter.
    James Ross Gardner, The New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2021
  • For most players, the squabble would’ve been just a bad decision.
    Jorge Castillo, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2023
  • How such squabbles might be resolved, of course, is still an open question.
    IEEE Spectrum, 22 Aug. 2023
  • Though the pair were able to laugh off the household squabbles, Jasmine soon became homesick.
    Kelly Wynne, Peoplemag, 16 Oct. 2023
  • There was a squabble between coaching staff from both schools.
    Chron, 25 June 2021
  • Then there were squabbles with the Danish vaccine maker.
    Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu, Los Angeles Times, 17 May 2023
  • Davis died years ago, and the sale followed an intrafamily squabble over the card’s rightful heir.
    Jeff Barker, baltimoresun.com, 1 Nov. 2021
  • Are more squabbles likely to get in the way of progress on what to do about renovating or building a courthouse?
    Laura Johnston, cleveland, 31 July 2023
  • The kids started a game that soon turned into low-grade squabble, when, suddenly, an air-raid siren blared.
    Ruth Margalit, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2023
  • Hamtramck isn’t the only city with Pride-flag squabbles.
    Allan Lengel, Anchorage Daily News, 16 Sep. 2023
  • The argument started to sound a lot like another river squabble: The one surrounding the source of the Nile.
    Marina Dias, Washington Post, 12 June 2023
  • The bridge district is embroiled in legal squabbles with the contractor.
    John Branch Jim Wilson, New York Times, 5 Nov. 2023
  • The Senate reduced the term of enhanced coverage to six months, and it’s been held up in a state-federal squabble.
    Allie Morris, Dallas News, 10 Jan. 2023
  • The squabble between ​the two presidents goes beyond the fate of a pair of white Pungsans, a dog breed indigenous to North Korea.
    Choe Sang-Hun, New York Times, 15 Dec. 2022
  • Whatever happened in the hair and makeup room was only a squabble.
    Shafiq Najib, Peoplemag, 31 Dec. 2022
  • The partners then struggle for control and to stay afloat, but their sibling-like squabbles are nothing compared to the tantrums of their famous clients.
    Chandra Steele, PCMAG, 30 Aug. 2023
  • At one point, he was caught in the middle of a furious squabble among activists over whether foxes should be trapped to save birds in those wetlands.
    James R. Hagerty, WSJ, 1 Mar. 2023
  • The parochial squabble had also become a subject of far wider interest.
    New York Times, 27 Dec. 2021
  • No one has to wait till December for a holiday squabble.
    Chris Willman, Variety, 15 Aug. 2022
  • Unfortunately, there was a bit of a squabble among the lead group of competitors after the race in Buena Vista.
    Brian Metzler, Outside Online, 16 Aug. 2022
  • The spat has escalated from a neighborhood squabble blurbed about in the local Larchmont Chronicle to a fight that could end up in court.
    Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 14 Dec. 2023
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squabble

2 of 2 verb
  • The children were squabbling over the toys.
  • His children have in the years since squabbled over the running of the empire.
    Benjamin Stupples, Bloomberg.com, 13 Apr. 2023
  • The effort to bring Good Food to Prince George’s has not been without squabbling.
    Rachel Chason, Washington Post, 25 Feb. 2018
  • The two often squabble over naming rights, and that’s sure to be a running joke in the show as well.
    Jacob Siegal, BGR, 13 Sep. 2021
  • The two sides are expected to squabble before the WTO over that amount.
    Emre Peker, WSJ, 15 May 2018
  • The newspaper said the three owners are squabbling about a sale.
    Maria Halkias, Dallas News, 30 Aug. 2023
  • But those who do might take notice, and stop squabbling about the finer points.
    Dana Milbank, The Mercury News, 31 July 2019
  • The creatures squabbled in a foreign tongue for a minute, then one of them raised its weapon and pointed it at Ned.
    cleveland, 18 Nov. 2019
  • In the opening pages the X-Men show off their powers to Professor Xavier and squabble a bit.
    Michael Dirda, Washington Post, 8 Sep. 2023
  • But the two transit agencies squabbled from the start over how much revenue each should get from Day Pass sales.
    Beau Evans, NOLA.com, 25 Apr. 2018
  • In the very next room, my healthy children squabbled over who would practice piano first.
    Christie Tate, Washington Post, 16 Aug. 2019
  • For six months, no government was formed, as the two camps squabbled over who would get which ministries.
    The Economist, 2 Aug. 2019
  • Willis and the exiled group members have squabbled publicly over rights to the Village People name.
    Allison Stewart, chicagotribune.com, 12 Sep. 2019
  • The life of an extravagant, squabbling gay couple is shaken by the arrival of a 10-year-old boy, who claims to the grandson of one of the men.
    Kevin Crust, latimes.com, 24 June 2018
  • More days of squabbling in Congress could kill that show of confidence.
    Shawn Tully, Fortune, 25 Mar. 2020
  • But the path forward for the bill remained unclear as the conference squabbled over how to proceed.
    Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 8 Feb. 2024
  • Johnson knew that a squabbling family would provide the bedrock for the story.
    Andrew R. Chow, Time, 26 Nov. 2019
  • When food is available in small areas, the brighter birds are more likely to squabble and push other members of the flock around.
    Fox News, 11 June 2020
  • No surprise, then, that the two sides are squabbling as the number of potential claimants expands.
    azcentral, 29 Mar. 2018
  • As the civilian vessel bore down, the panicked officers squabbled about what to do.
    Megan Rose, ProPublica, 20 Nov. 2019
  • The trial scene implodes, first as the clans squabble among themselves, and then as an unexplained fire breaks out and engulfs the room.
    Hayden Dingman, PCWorld, 21 Mar. 2019
  • In the Bay Area and cities throughout the country, residents and politicians are squabbling over how streets should look and function.
    Rachel Swan, SFChronicle.com, 27 July 2019
  • But that’s starting to change, in what is shaping up to be a nail-biting game of debt ceiling squabbling as the shot clock is winding down.
    Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN, 20 Apr. 2023
  • In addition to haggling over the content of a deal, the two sides are also squabbling over how any new rules would be enforced.
    Anna Fifield, Anchorage Daily News, 2 Aug. 2019
  • Often, spectators catch a confluence of ravens and magpies that swoop in to squabble for the same fish.
    Jenna Kunze, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Nov. 2020
  • Aides role-played as members of Congress who might have wanted to squabble with him on camera.
    Noah Weiland, BostonGlobe.com, 21 July 2019
  • Nearby vineyards have squabbled over the right to use the image on wine labels, and the story has even inspired a comic opera.
    Mark A. Walsh, New York Times, 26 June 2018
  • Oh, and London and Brussels continue to squabble over the future of trade in and out of Northern Ireland.
    Bernhard Warner, Fortune, 23 June 2021
  • The two sides recently squabbled over who would support the striking auto unions in Michigan and raced to visit their picket lines.
    Desirée Leclercq, Fortune, 28 Feb. 2024
  • Brooks, 35, and Dr. Al Madani, 37, meanwhile, squabbled over parenting advice.
    Dave Quinn, Peoplemag, 29 Feb. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'squabble.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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