niggle
verbEtymology First attested in 1599. Origin uncertain, but likely borrowed from dialectal Norwegian nigla (“to be stingy, to busy oneself with trifles”), ultimately from Old Norse hnøggr (“stingy; miserly”), related to Old English hnēaw (“stingy; niggardly”). More at niggard.
1
Obsolete To trifle with; to deceive; to mock.
- I shall so feed your fierce vexation , And raise your worship ' s storms ; I shall so niggle you , And juggle you , and fiddle you , and firk youc. 1621, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, “The Pilgrim”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
2
To use, spend, or do in a petty or trifling manner.
3
To dwell too much on minor points or on trifling details.
4
UK To fidget, fiddle, be restless.
- I can see him now with his one eye closed as he came niggling along, and didn't he just give me a grandfather's blessing!1893, Fores's Sporting Notes & Sketches, page 177:
- Derived terms
- niggler, nigglesome, niggly