niggle — OET · Shobdo

niggle

verb

1 it does niggle me that we cannot play whenever and wherever we like:

irritate, annoy, worry, trouble, bother, provoke, exasperate, upset, gall, irk, rankle with;

informal rile, hack off, get, get to, bug;

British, informal get up someone's nose.

2 he niggles on about the unemployed:

complain, object, moan, fuss, nag, carp, cavil, find fault, grumble, grouse;

Northern English mither, twine;

informal nitpick.

noun

there were niggles about the lack of trim and equipment on some diesel cars:

minor criticism, quibble, trivial objection, trivial complaint, adverse comment, moan, grumble, grouse, cavil;

Northern English twine;

informal gripe, beef, grouch, nitpicking;

archaic pettifogging.

niggle Oxford Dictionary of English