D defs.my
Entry 1 sense Webster, 1913

Hairsplitting

/(-tĭng)/ · Hair·split·ting · IPA
01 a. Making excessively fine or trivial distinctions in reasoning; overly subtle.
  1. 1.
    Making excessively fine or trivial distinctions in reasoning; overly subtle.
    “The ancient hairsplitting technicalities of special pleading.” — Charles Sumner.