This week's theme
Interesting usage examples

This week's words
stalagmite
stroppy
pettifogger
Philadelphia lawyer
bailiwick

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(PET-ee-fog-uhr)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A petty, unscrupulous lawyer.
2. One who quibbles over trivial matters.

ETYMOLOGY:

From petty (small) + fogger, perhaps after Fuggers, a Bavarian family of merchants in the 15th and 16th centuries. Earliest documented use: 1564.

USAGE:

"Many banks refuse to give lawyers loans, and landlords won't rent them property, fearful that the pettifoggers will find loopholes to worm out of making payments."
Richard Leiby; In Pakistani City, Lawyers Go from Heroes to 'Gangsters'; The Washington Post; Nov 12, 2012.

See more usage examples of pettifogger in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: