From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishnigglenig‧gle1 /ˈnɪɡəl/ verb 1 [transitive]WORRIED if something niggles you, you keep worrying about it or feeling annoyed about it and you cannot forget it → bug Something’s been niggling her all day. It niggles me that we can’t go home yet and get warm.2 ARGUE[intransitive] to argue or make criticisms about small unimportant details She niggled over every detail of the bill.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
niggle• He used to niggle at me for being a capitalist farmer and I got at him for being an unemployed commie.• Doubts niggled at the back of her mind.• She was niggled by a lingering doubt that she might have played her cards badly.• I was niggled during those first few months by the feeling of being a charlatan.• Clearly something other than the bass notes on the wireless niggled him.• The empty feeling of the place niggled management.• So this was Guy Sterne's type of woman, an irritating little voice niggled the back of her mind.• And the editor is the only area to niggle with, really.niggleniggle2 noun [countable] 1 a slight feeling a niggle of doubt2 a slight criticism or complaint3 a slight physical pain a niggle in his kneeExamples from the Corpus
niggle• Almost as if he believed his story ... And she herself started to feel another niggle of doubt.• It is an excellent book, as I took care to point out, except for my few niggles.• Time may sort it out for me, but meanwhile I have to live with its niggle.• My only niggle is that the seams on the top of the shoulder are quite prominent and uncomfortable.• Numerous other niggles arose from our months together.• And that's my only other niggle, really.• He'd meant to stay longer, but a wee niggle in his mind made him return early.Origin niggle (1600-1700) Perhaps from a Scandinavian language 