✅ Carp means to find fault unnecessarily, be critical about inconsequential things, and complain unreasonably (He tended to carp if he didn’t get his own way).

✅ Cavil means to raise trivial and annoying objections or to find fault unnecessarily (She caviled over every aspect of planning the party).

✅ Carp and cavil both mean to find fault and be unnecessarily critical.

✅ However, cavil emphasizes objecting for no reason, whereas carp emphasizes complaining and being critical.

✅ Expect means to look for something, especially a particular behavior, often while having justification or reason to do so (I expect everyone to follow the rules).

✅ Insist means to demand, especially persistently (She insists that we follow the rules at all times).

✅ Expect and insist both refer to demanding some sort of behavior from someone else, whether that demand is justified or not.

✅ Sometimes someone might expect something that seems unreasonable or unjustified (He really expects us to treat him like a king). However, expect generally suggests a reasonable demand, whereas insist often, though not always, suggests an unreasonable demand.

✅ Competition can refer to rivalry for dominance or a shared goal, or it can refer to a contest for a prize or advantage (There was a lot of competition between her and her classmates; She entered an art competition).

✅ Contest can refer to a struggle for victory or an arranged competition (The contest against the dragon took several days; The baking contest was a big deal).

✅ Competition and contest can both refer to an organized event that ends with an overall winner or winners.

✅ However, competition can refer to rivalry and a fight to win in a more general sense, and contest can refer to a struggle, such as in battle, that has an eventual winner.