From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishquarrelquar‧rel1 /ˈkwɒrəl $ ˈkwɔː-, ˈkwɑː-/ ●●○ noun [countable] especially British English 1 ARGUEan angry argument or disagreementquarrel with Jacob left after a quarrel with his wife.quarrel about/over They had a quarrel about some girl.quarrel between Had there been any quarrel between you?► see thesaurus at argument2 a reason to disagree with something or argue with someonequarrel with My only quarrel with this plan is that it’s going to take far too long. I have no quarrel with the court’s verdict.COLLOCATIONSverbshave a quarrelWe had a terrible quarrel last night.pick a quarrel (=deliberately start it)Members of the gang were picking quarrels with strangers.patch up a quarrel British English (=end it)The brothers eventually patched up their quarrel.a quarrel breaks out (=starts to happen)A fresh quarrel broke out between the players.ADJECTIVES/NOUN + quarrela family quarrelYour family quarrels are none of my concern.a lovers’ quarrelOutside, two teenagers were having a lovers’ quarrel.bitter (=involving strong feelings of anger or hatred)They are locked in a bitter quarrel over ownership of the land.violentThat morning, after a violent quarrel, she threatened him with a kitchen knife.seriousSoon afterwards, they had their first serious quarrel.an old quarrel (=one that has existed for a long time)Now is the time to patch up old quarrels.
Examples from the Corpus
quarrel• Then he worked as garden boy at Ballykilcavan, but in the winter of 1860-1 he left abruptly after a quarrel.• We don't want to have a quarrel, do we?• Nor was he willing to let bygones be bygones once a quarrel had finally come to an end.• Two or three weeks ago, a crossbow quarrel narrowly missed my face as we crossed the Lawnmarket.• Labor unions continue to wage these dismal quarrels against management with almost uniformly disastrous results for the workers and their communities.• a bitter family quarrel• They had some sort of quarrel years ago, and they haven't spoken to each other since.• I was tired of these stupid quarrels with my parents.• It was rehearsed again in the quarrel between the sunny Emerson and the somber Herman Melville.quarrel with• She got into a quarrel with her son's coach.• Rivera had quarreled with his tenants once before.have no quarrel with• Miners, for example, have no quarrel with pit-head gear; they can not work without it.• I have no quarrel with that, provided he sets them in that order.• I have no quarrel with that.• The Opposition have no quarrel with the principle of disposal, leaving aside the financial implications.• We have no quarrel with the delicious plastic that Tony Blackburn plays on his daytime show.• We have no quarrel with you or your master.quarrelquarrel2 ●●○ verb (quarrelled, quarrelling British English, quarreled, quarreling American English) [intransitive] ARGUEto have an argument I wish you two would stop quarreling.quarrel with I always seem to be quarrelling with my parents.quarrel about We’re not going to quarrel about a few dollars.► see thesaurus at argue → quarrel with somethingGRAMMAR: Reciprocal verbsQuarrel is a reciprocal verb. This type of verb is used when saying that two or more people do something that involves both or all of them: The brothers quarrelled. You can also say: The brothers quarrelled with each other.He quarrelled with his brother.→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
quarrel• Whenever my sisters meet they always end up quarrelling.• I mean you nothing but good, why should we quarrel?• Perhaps men were killed; perhaps animals were stolen - who knows now why men quarrelled a century ago?• I can not face a quarrel and I can see nothing to quarrel about.• This can lead to misunderstanding, mutual frustration, anger, quarrelling and perhaps aggression.• I could hear them quarreling next door.• The two brothers had quarreled over ownership of the farm.• Yet quarrel they did after George's retirement.• If I hadn't been weak and without hope I should have quarrelled with almost everything Syl said.• Gettier here is not quarrelling with any of the three clauses.• She left home after quarrelling with her parents.• She didn't want to quarrel with Maria, today of all days, when they had so little time left together.Origin quarrel1 (1300-1400) Old French querele “complaint”, from Latin querela, from queri “to complain” 