Crossword Genius

Annoy Germans in river (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

niggle

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'annoy' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both to do with human feelings as well as being verbs in their base form.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I don't see?

'germans in river' is the wordplay.
'germans' becomes 'gg' (an abbreviation for German written twice).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'river' becomes 'nile' (Nile is an example).
'gg' placed within 'nile' is 'NIGGLE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for niggle that I've seen before include "Persistently irritate" , "Persistently criticise over trifles" , "Annoy slightly" , "A slight bother" , "Trivial problem, fuss" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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