From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishnit-pickingˈnit-ˌpicking noun [uncountable] informal ARGUEwhen someone argues about small unimportant details or tries to find small mistakes in something Soames was getting impatient with his daughter’s constant nitpicking. —nitpicking adjective —nitpicker noun [countable]
Examples from the Corpus
nit-picking• And finally, the bottom line, is the budget approved without long delay and nit-picking?• I've had enough of your constant nit-picking. Why can't you say something encouraging?• Most businesses, especially small businesses, can not afford to squander vast sums of money on such refined legalistic nit-picking. 