Bicker vs Gossip - What's the difference?

As verbs the difference between bicker and gossip

is that bicker is to quarrel in a tiresome, insulting manner while gossip is to talk about someone else's private or personal business, especially in a way that spreads the information.

As nouns the difference between bicker and gossip

is that bicker is a skirmish; an encounter or bicker can be a small wooden vessel made of staves and hoops, like a tub while gossip is someone who likes to talk about someone else’s private or personal business.

bicker

English

Etymology 1

(etyl) bikeren ‘to attack’, from (etyl) bicken ‘to stab, attack’ (modern bikken ‘to hack’), from (etyl) ‘to smash, break’.

Verb

(en verb)

To quarrel in a tiresome, insulting manner.

They bickered about dinner every evening.

* Barrow

petty things about which men cark and bicker

To move tremulously, quiver, shimmer (of a water stream, of a flame)

*XIX cent,

I come from haunts of coot and hern, / I make a sudden sally, / And sparkle out among the fern, / To bicker down a valley.

* Thomson

They [streamlets] bickered through the sunny shade.

To skirmish; to exchange blows; to fight.

* Holland

Two eagles had a conflict, and bickered together.

Derived terms

*bickerer

Synonyms

* wrangle * See also

Noun

(en noun)
A skirmish; an encounter.

(Scotland, obsolete) A fight with stones between two parties of boys.

(Jamieson)

A wrangle; also, a noise, as in angry contention.

Etymology 2

See beaker.

Noun

(en noun)
A small wooden vessel made of staves and hoops, like a tub.
(Webster 1913)

External links

* *

gossip
English
(wikipedia gossip)
Noun
(en noun)
Someone who likes to talk about someone else’s private or personal business.

Idle talk about someone’s private or personal matters, especially someone not present.

*

*:"I ought to arise and go forth with timbrels and with dances; but, do you know, I am not inclined to revels? There has been a little—just a very little bit too much festivity so far …. Not that I don't adore dinners and gossip and dances; not that I do not love to pervade bright and glittering places."

A genre in contemporary media, usually focused on the personal affairs of celebrities.

*

*:Little disappointed, then, she turned attention to "Chat of the Social World," gossip which exercised potent fascination upon the girl's intelligence. She devoured with more avidity than she had her food those pretentiously phrased chronicles of the snobocracydistilling therefrom an acid envy that robbed her napoleon of all its savour.

(lb) A sponsor; a godfather or godmother.

*(John Selden) (1584-1654)

*:Should a great lady that was invited to be a gossip , in her place send her kitchen maid, 'twould be ill taken.

Synonyms
* scuttle-butt * See also
Verb

To talk about someone else's private or personal business, especially in a way that spreads the information.

To talk idly.

Synonyms
* (sense, talk about someone else's private or personal business) blab, talk out of turn, tell tales out of school
References
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