Pettifog

·vt To advocate like a pettifogger; to argue trickily; as, to pettifog a claim.

II. Pettifog ·vi To do a petty business as a lawyer; also, to do law business in a petty or tricky way.

to pettifog
To play the pettifogger.--Johnson. This old verb has just been revived by political writers. On Sat...

Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.