niggle
- v worry unnecessarily or excessively
- v argue over petty things
- Though they have tried to lose their bully boy tags over the past few years, Australian cricket players still regularly "sledge" or verbally niggle their opponents.
- If negotiators do not hurry along specifics for enacting the deal, naysayers could niggle it to death.
- The Russians, in no mood to niggle when they had such a good thing, welcomed the travelers like long-lost brothers.