a. [f. AMPHIBOLOGY + -ICAL; perh. f. Fr. amphibologique 14 c.] Ambiguous: prop. of a sentence or phrase of ambiguous construction; equivocating, quibbling.
1577. Holinshed, Chron. (1587), III. 1245/2. He that … wrote the amphibologicall epistle for the death of the king.
1587. Greene, 2nd Pt. Tritameron, Wks. 1882, III. 127. Needles Allegories that haue such an amphibologicall equivocation.
1621. Burton, Anat. Mel., III. iii. I. i. (1651), 607. [He] ingratiates himself with an amphibological speech.
1836. Hor. Smith, Tin Trum., 30. An apology which he gave in the following amphibological terms—‘I called you a liar,—it is true. You spoke truth. I have told a lie.’
