Past tense of bicker; argued or quarreled about small, unimportant things in a petty way.
From Middle English bikeren, possibly from bicker meaning 'to move quickly back and forth.' The sense evolved from the rapid back-and-forth movement of objects to the back-and-forth of argument and disagreement.
The word 'bicker' likely started as an imitative term describing rapid, repetitive motion—like pebbles 'bickering' in a stream—which is why it perfectly captures how people go back and forth with trivial complaints.
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