technicality

[ tek-ni-kal-i-tee ]

/ ˌtɛk nɪˈkæl ɪ ti /

technical character.

the use of technical methods or terms.

something that is technical; a technical point, detail, or expression.

Origin of technicality

First recorded in 1805–15; technical + -ity

hy·per·tech·ni·cal·i·ty, noun o·ver·tech·ni·cal·i·ty, noun, plural o·ver·tech·ni·cal·i·ties.

It will not be your legal responsibility, but you're simply winning on a technicality.

Whatever You Do Someone Will Die. A Short Story About Impossible Choices in Iraq |Nathan Bradley Bethea |August 31, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
He was arrested, tried and, thanks to a technicality, acquitted.

Nigeria’s Larger-Than-Life Nobel Laureate Chronicles a Fascinating Life |Chimamanda Adichie |August 9, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
The case was tossed out the following year on a technicality.

ESPN: The Worldwide Leader in Pricks |Marlow Stern |July 29, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
The effect would be to knock down California's gay-marriage ban on a technicality, without affecting the rest of the country.

Will the Supreme Court Dodge a Big Marriage Equality Decision? |David Frum |March 27, 2013 |DAILY BEAST

I said “Britcom” earlier; Father Ted is only that on a technicality.

Father Ted: Comedy as Liberation |Tom Doran |March 8, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
Technicality is as little consonant with the one as with the other.

History of the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson, President of The United States |Edmund G. Ross
Even if the Cubs had claimed it on a technicality, even if we had really won the pennant once, that game had to be played now.

Pitching in a Pinch |Christy Mathewson
I still think Jimmie Time and Boogles were beating the law—on a technicality.

Somewhere in Red Gap |Harry Leon Wilson
This I cal186l the Apology of technicality inspired by tyranny.

Charles Sumner; his complete works, volume 5 (of 20) |Charles Sumner
She slid into the silence with a technicality, asking if John still took his old inordinate amount of sugar.

Tales and Fantasies |Robert Louis Stevenson

technicality

/ (ˌtɛknɪˈkælɪtɪ) /

a petty formal point arising from a strict interpretation of rules, etc the case was dismissed on a technicality

the state or quality of being technical

technical methods and vocabulary