adverse criticism, animadversion, argue, argufy, around the bush, aspersion, bad notices, bad press, bandy words, beat about, beg the question, bicker, boggle, captiousness, carp, carping, catch at straws, caviling, censoriousness, censure, chicane, choplogic, complain, complaint, contend, contest, criticism, criticize, cross swords, cut and thrust, cut up, demur, discept, dispute, dodge, equivocate, evade, evade the issue, exception, fault-find, faultfinding, fence, find fault, flak, give and take, hairsplitting, hassle, have it out, hedge, hit, home thrust, hostile criticism, hypercriticalness, hypercriticism, imputation, jesuitism, join issue, knock, lock horns, logomachize, moot, mystify, nagging, niggle, niggling, nit-picking, nit, nitpick, object, obloquy, obscure, overcriticalness, palter, parry, pestering, pettifog, pettifogging, pick holes, pick nits, pick to pieces, plead, polemicize, polemize, prevaricate, priggishness, pull apart, pull to pieces, pussyfoot, quibble, quibbling, quiddity, quillet, quip, quirk, quodlibet, rap, reflection, reproachfulness, shift, shuffle, shy, sidestep, slam, spar, split hairs, stricture, swipe, take exception, take sides, taking exception, tear apart, tear to pieces, tergiversate, thrash out, trichoschistism, try conclusions, wrangle