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Glite Dictionary
🏎️ Sharp road bends 🃏 No trump cards 🕵️ Trickery or cheating 🙅 To object needlessly
to chicane

to chicane

9.9
To raise small objections to delay or block progress
  • verb
  • /ʃɪˈkeɪn/
translation icon : poner pegas
  • Rather than accept the agreement, they continued to chicane about insignificant terms.

Examples

  • During the meeting, they began to chicane over trivial points, frustrating everyone involved.

  • The lawyer tried to chicane his way out of answering the main question.

  • She disliked colleagues who would chicane over minor details instead of moving forward.

  • Don't chicane about the details!

  • They always chicane during negotiations.

  • Instead of providing a straightforward answer, he decided to chicane about the main issue.

  • The contractor tried to chicane on the project deadline by bringing up irrelevant concerns.

Synonyms

to stonewall
vsto chicane
  • Literature
42 7.8

Refuse to answer questions to delay or block progress

delays by raising trivial objections rather than by refusing cooperation
to quibble
vsto chicane
26 7.0

To argue about small unimportant details to avoid the main point

raises petty objections to delay or obstruct
to carp
vsto chicane
5 7.9

To complain about small or unimportant things

uses petty objections as a tactic to delay or obstruct
to cavil
vsto chicane
1 9.9

To complain about small unimportant details

uses petty objections mainly to delay or obstruct

Phrasal Verbs

to set up a mobile chicane
  • UK
9.1

To put temporary barriers on a road to slow or send traffic another way

Compounds

mobile chicane
  • UK
9.0

A temporary barrier on a road that slows vehicles and guides traffic

How Obstructive

to chicane
9.9
to nitpick
21 5.7
to quibble
26 7.0
to object
349 5.1
to complain
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

chicane infinitive
chicaned past
chicaned past participle
chicaning present participle
chicanes third person singular

Etymology

Chicane as a verb comes from the French chicaner, which meant 'to argue over small points' or 'to quibble', so to chicane is to raise tiny objections to delay or block something. So, the word keeps the idea of arguing in small ways to slow things down.