stickle

Meaning

Noun

A sharp point; prickle; a spine

Adj

1. Steep; high; inaccessible.
2. (UK, dialectal) High, as the water of a river; swollen; sweeping; rapid.

Verb

1. (British, dialectal, obsolete) To act as referee or arbiter; to mediate.
2. (British, archaic, dialectal) To argue or struggle for.
3. (British, dialectal) To raise objections; to argue stubbornly, especially over minor or trivial matters.
4. (British, dialectal, obsolete, transitive) To separate, as combatants; hence, to quiet, to appease, as disputants.
5. (British, dialectal, obsolete, transitive) To intervene in; to stop, or put an end to, by intervening.
6. (British, dialectal, intransitive, obsolete) To separate combatants by intervening.
7. (British, dialectal, intransitive, obsolete) To contend, contest, or altercate, especially in a pertinacious manner on insufficient grounds.

Synonyms

advocate

assert

champion

contend

defend

haggle

hesitate

maintain

scruple

stand up for

vindicate

have one’s doubts

Translations

verfechten

défendre

préconiser

professer

sostenere

propugnare

bepleiten

verdedigen

voorstaan

vorstaan

advogar

argumentar

apologizar

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈstɪk(ə)l/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: *stikel

Inherited from Old English: sticel

Cognate with Dutch: stekel

Cognate with Icelandic: stikill

Cognate with Gothic: 𐍃𐍄𐌹𐌺𐌻𐍃

Cognate with Russian: стекло́

Cognate with Lithuanian: stìklas

Inherited from Middle English: stikel

In summary

From Middle English *stikel, *stykyl (in compounds), from Old English sticel (“a prickle, sting, goad”), from Proto-Germanic *stiklaz, *stikilaz (“sting, stinger, peak, cup, goblet”), related to the verb *stikaną (“to stick”). Cognate with Dutch stekel, Icelandic stikill, Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌹𐌺𐌻𐍃 (stikls) (whence Russian стекло́ (stekló, “glass”), Polish szkło (“glass”), Lithuanian sti̇̀klas, Romanian sticlă).