stickle

Meanings

1. A sharp point; prickle; a spine

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

1. A shallow rapid in a river.
2. The current below a waterfall.

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

1. A surname.

Etymology

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).