Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Pettifogging \Pet"ti*fog`ging\, a.
   Paltry; quibbling; mean.

Pettifogging \Pet"ti*fog`ging\, n.
   Pettifoggery.

Pettifog \Pet"ti*fog\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Pettifogged}; p. pr.
   & vb. n. {Pettifogging}.] [Petty + fog to pettifog.]
   To do a petty business as a lawyer; also, to do law business
   in a petty or tricky way. ``He takes no money, but pettifogs
   gratis.'' --S. Butler.

Source : WordNet®

pettifog
     v : argue over petty things; "Let's not quibble over pennies"
         [syn: {quibble}, {niggle}, {bicker}, {squabble}, {brabble}]
     [also: {pettifogging}, {pettifogged}]

pettifogging
     adj : quibbling over insignificant details; "caviling pettifoggers
           and quiggling pleaders"-Edmund Burke; "her nagging and
           carping attack"; "thought her editor unnecessarily
           nitpicking"; "a pettifogging lawyer's mind"; "had no
           patience with quibbling critics" [syn: {caviling}, {carping},
            {nitpicking}, {quibbling}]

pettifogging
     See {pettifog}