v. colloq. [An illiterate formation on ARGUE. Cf. speechify.] A colloquial and dialectal equivalent of ARGUE, usually with the idea of pertinacious or petty argument.
1. intr. To prove or be evidence of something; hence, to be of importance, consequence or use; to signify. Cf. ARGUE 3.
1751. Smollett, Per. Pic. (1779), III. lxxviii. 44. ‘Howsomever, that don’t argufy in reverence of his being in a hurry.’
c. 1800. C. Dibdin, Poor Jack, iii. What argufies sniv’ling and piping your eye?
2. To argue, dispute, wrangle.
1800. Mar. Edgeworth, Will, ii. (1832), 104. ‘I can’t stand argufying here about charity.’
1865. Sat. Rev., 12 Aug., 197/2. People who are always arguefying are the … worst of bores.
3. trans. To worry with argumentation. Cf. ARGUE 9.
1771. Smollett, Humph. Cl., 797. ‘Would you go for to offer for to arguefy me out of my senses?’
1876. Black, Madcap Violet, vii. 64. ‘I am thwarted, crushed, argufied at every turn.’
