as in quarreled
to express different opinions about something often angrily
if you two don't stop bickering about where to go to eat, we're not going out at all!
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Recent Examples of bickered
On 33 occasions since 2017, Congress has been forced to pass emergency extensions to the flood insurance program, as lawmakers bickered over budgets and looming shutdowns threatened to disrupt it, according to a letter the National Association of Realtors sent to Congress ahead of the shutdown.
—
Rukmini Callimachi, New York Times, 9 Oct. 2025
In recent years, the companies have bickered about the rise of streaming services, in which the media companies are investing billions of dollars and which lure away cable and satellite customers.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 26 Sep. 2025
Communists and socialists bickered over doctrine and orthodoxy.
—Kornel Chang
september 19, Literary Hub, 19 Sep. 2025
During the squabble, Darcey and Georgi bickered about the communication issues impacting their relationship, leaving Georgi’s parents Ginka and Ivan concerned about how healthy their son’s relationship was.
—Abigail Adams, People.com, 1 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bickered
Verb
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For the past seven months, SDC has quarreled with state officials and lawmakers over its community action agency title.—
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Rhoden's biggest political victory this year was getting the state Legislature to sign off on a $650 million plan in September to replace the 141-year-old state penitentiary, an issue the Legislature had quarreled over for years.—
Verb
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But the department has argued the sheer volume of documents that need to be found, uploaded, reviewed, redacted and published has forced it to instead release the files online on a rolling basis, with a series of enormous document dumps over the course of several days in mid-December.—
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Skelton argued that the city’s code lays out a specific process for declaring an animal as dangerous, which often entails a day in municipal court.—
Verb
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Firefighters fought the fire both inside and outside the house, and additional firefighters went inside to search for people.—
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And neither do the AI-skeptics who fought the hardest for it.—
Verb
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Four Democratic-Farm-Labor Party lawmakers who chair state Senate education committees cited Minneapolis Public Schools canceling classes and extracurricular activities last week after federal agents reportedly clashed with students and staff during Roosevelt High School’s dismissal on Wednesday.—
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The two countries have clashed in a border dispute, causing dozens of civilian and military deaths and forcing tens of thousands of civilians on both sides to evacuate.—
Verb
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Personalities from the stations have squabbled over the years, like rappers signed to labels with similar wares but diverging agendas.—
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This go-around hasn’t been much different as the party squabbled over which of their numerous health care proposals should receive a vote.—
Verb
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How The Hardys Defeated DarkState Both teams brawled before the bell rang.—
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Cody Rhodes came back with a Suicide Dive as the two brawled until the show went off the air.—
Cite this Entry
“Bickered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bickered. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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