cavil at/about/over sth
He cavilled at the minor details.
他对那些小细节吹毛求疵。
吹毛求疵；琐碎的反对
cavils — plural of cavil
琐碎或无足轻重的反对或批评。；无端的指责；挑剔
琐碎或无足轻重的反对或批评。
A petty or trivial objection or criticism.
He is always cavilling at minor details.
他总是对细枝末节吹毛求疵。
用法提示：动词cavil的现在分词形式，表示挑剔、指责。
Her constant cavils about the service annoyed everyone.
她对服务没完没了的挑剔惹恼了所有人。
用法提示：名词cavil的复数形式，表示无端的指责或挑剔。
Don't cavil over such trivial matters.
别为这种琐事吹毛求疵。
用法提示：动词cavil原形，表示挑剔、找茬。
He cavilled at the minor details.
他对那些小细节吹毛求疵。
They cavilled that the report was too long.
他们挑剔说报告太长了。
grammar · medium
易错句子He always cavils everything.
正确表达He always cavils at everything.
cavil 作为动词是不及物的，后接宾语时必须使用介词 at 或 about；直接加宾语是常见错误。
grammar · medium
易错句子She is so cavil and hard to please.
正确表达She is so caviling and hard to please.
'cavil' 是名词，不能用作形容词；表示“挑剔的”应该用形容词形式 caviling。
cavil侧重于无端指责，quibble更强调对细节的争辩或琐碎异议
cavil指无理指责，carp侧重于持续不断地抱怨小毛病
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