argufy

English

Alternative forms

• argify

Etymology

Fromargue+‎-fy.

Verb

argufy(third-person singular simple presentargufies,present participleargufying,simple past and past participleargufied)(colloquial)

1. (intransitive)Toarguewithout anyaim;todispute;todisagree.

   Synonym:wrangle

   • 1776,Samuel Jackson Pratt,chapter 72, inLiberal Opinions‎^[1],volume 4, London: G. Robinson and J. Bew, pages42–43:

     Mrs. Sudberry[…]began toargufywith us, touching our going off the premises, and upon my soul, talked over the thing in such a moving manner, every now and then stopping to sob, that if it had not been doing an injury to Mr. Skain here, I could have found in my heart to have left um.

   • 1900,Thornton Jenkins Hains,chapter 3, inMr Trunnell,Boston: Lothrop Publishing Company,page49:

     “But not inargufyingover facts,” retorted Trunnell. “No, sink me, when I finds I’margufyingaginthe world,—agin facts,—I tries to give in some and let the world get the best o’ the argument[…]”

   • 1952,Dorothy Canfield Fisher,A Fair World for All: The Meaning of the Declaration of Human Rights,New York: Whittlesey House,page22:

     Theydiscussed,you see, they didn’targufy.What’s the difference? Well, when you start toargufyabout something with other people, you don’t want to find out what the best idea is. You want to make them acceptyouridea.

2. (transitive)Todispute(a point, fact, etc.), to argue about (something).
   • 1804,Amelia Opie,chapter 17, inAdeline Mowbray,Boston: S.G. Goodrich, published1827,page140:

     “Why then you are his mistress, and a kept lady to all intents and purposes; so what signifiesargufyingthe matter;[…]”

   • 1845,George W. M. Reynolds,chapter 25, inThe Mysteries of London,volume 1, London: George Vickers,page64:

     “Well, it’s of no useargufyingthepint,”said the butler, after a moment’s pause. “Here is Mr. Monroe’s address: perhaps when you have seen him, you will arrive at new inclusions.”

   • 1903,Elbert Hubbard,Little Journeys to the Homes of Eminent Orators:Marat,East Aurora, NY: Roycrofters,page 6:

     He[…]passed judgment upon the social order without stint, even occasionally toargufyingeconomics with his master, the Baron, as he brushed his breech.

   • 2001,Jamie O’Neill,chapter 14, inAt Swim, Two Boys,London: Scribner,page394:

     ‘Aren’t we two very foolish old quilts,’ he said, ‘to beargufyingthe past?[…]’

3. (transitive,intransitive,archaic)Toreason(something) out, to fullyconsider,think through.
   • 1698,Edward Ward,A Trip to Jamaica‎^[2],London, page11:

     […]this Lubberly Whelp here says I talk like a Fool; and sure I have not used the Sea this Thirty Years, but I canArgufieany thing as proper as he can.

   • 1800,Thomas Morton,Speed the Plough‎^[3],London: T.N. Longman and O. Rees, act III, scene 3, page57:

     I haveargufiedthe topic, and it wou’dn’t bepratty[…]

   • 1860,Edward S. Ellis,chapter 18, inSeth Jones,London: George Routledge,page103:

     I then proceeded toargufythe question; and, after considerable discussion, both in the affirmative and negative, I came unanimously to the conclusion[…]

   • 1887,George Manville Fenn,chapter 1, inThe Bag of Diamonds,New York: John W. Lovell,page10:

     “[…]Now, stop a moment. Let’sargufy.Couldn’t be burglary. Yes, it could—body burglary!”

4. (transitive,archaic)Topersuade(someone) through argument.
   • 1898,Francis Bartow Lloyd,Sketches of Country Life,Birmingham, AL: Press of Roberts & Son,page14:

     She was thinkin I might find things turned around and changed about so till I wouldn’t hardly know the country, but still she wouldn’targufyme out of makin the trip.

5. (transitive,archaic)Toweary(someone) with arguing.
   • 1895,Mary Noailles Murfree(as Charles Egbert Craddock), “The Mystery of Witch-Face Mountain” inThe Mystery of Witch-Face Mountain and Other Stories,Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, p. 154,^[4]

     “Lord, how glad I’ll be to git rid o’ him!” Peters said in an undertone to Hite. “He hev mighty nighargufiedme ter death,—’bout sperits, an’ witches, an’ salvation, an’ law, an’ craps, an’ horse-flesh, an’ weather signs.[…]”

6. (transitive,archaic)To beevidenceof (something).
   • 1780,[Sophia] Lee,The Chapter of Accidents: A Comedy,[…],London:[…]T[homas]Cadell,[…],→OCLC,Act III, scene [iii],page53:

     [S]he no ſooner ſet eyes on him than ſhe ſent me out; vvhichargufy’dno good, you'll ſay;[…]

7. (intransitive,archaic)To be of importance orrelevance;tomake a difference,to be of use.
   • a.1778,William Shenstone,“To a Friend”, inThe Poetical Works‎^[5],volume 1, Edinburgh: The Apollo Press, published1778,page166:

     Well, now who wins?—why, still the same— / For Sal has lost another game. / “I’ve done, (she mutter’d;) I was saying, / “It did notargufymy playing. / “Some folks will win, they cannot chuse, / “But think or not think—some must lose.

   • 1790,Helen Maria Williams,chapter 24, inJulia‎^[6],volume 2, London: T. Cadell, page75:

     “[…]Moreover, Ma’am,” says I, “what does itargufy,”says I, “taking onso now, when the deed’s done;[” ] but, poor soul! she only cried the more for that.

   • 1852,Robert Smith Surtees,chapter 3, inMr. Sponge’s Sporting Tour,London: Bradbury Agnew,page15:

     ‘[…]not that [the horse is]wicious—far from it, only play—full of play, I may say, though to be sure, if a man gets spilt it don’targufymuch whether it’s done from play or fromwice.’

Derived terms

• argufier