Carp \Carp\ (k[aum]rp), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Carped
(k[aum]rpt); p. pr. & vb. n. Carping.] [OE. carpen to say,
speak; from Scand. (cf. Icel. karpa to boast), but influenced
later by L. carpere to pluck, calumniate.]
1. To talk; to speak; to prattle. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
2. To find fault; to cavil; to censure words or actions
without reason or ill-naturedly; -- usually followed by
at.
[1913 Webster]
Carping and caviling at faults of manner. --Blackw.
Mag.
[1913 Webster]
And at my actions carp or catch. --Herbert.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Carping \Carp"ing\ (k[aum]rp"[i^]ng), a.
Fault-finding; censorious caviling. See Captious. --
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
carping
adj : quibbling over insignificant details; "caviling pettifoggers
and quiggling pleaders"-Edmund Burke; "her nagging and
carping attack"; "thought her editor unnecessarily
nitpicking"; "a pettifogging lawyer's mind"; "had no
patience with quibbling critics" [syn: caviling, nitpicking,
pettifogging, quibbling]
n : persistent petty and unjustified criticism [syn: faultfinding]
WordNet (r) 2.0
57 Moby Thesaurus words for "carping":
adverse criticism, animadversion, aspersion, bad notices,
bad press, blameful, captious, captiousness, cavil, caviling,
censorious, censoriousness, condemnatory, critical, criticism,
cynical, damnatory, exception, faultfinding, flak, hairsplitting,
hit, home thrust, hostile criticism, hypercritical,
hypercriticalness, hypercriticism, imputation, jawing, knock,
nagging, niggle, niggling, nit, nit-picking, objurgatory, obloquy,
overcritical, overcriticalness, pestering, pettifogging,
priggishness, quibble, quibbling, railing, rap, reflection,
reproachful, reproachfulness, slam, stricture, swipe,
taking exception, trichoschistic, trichoschistism, ultracritical,
upbraiding
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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