English
babble
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /ˈbæb.l̩/
Verb

babble (babbles, present participle babbling; past and past participle babbled)

  1. (intransitive) To utter words indistinctly or unintelligibly; to utter inarticulate sounds
    The men were babbling, so we couldn't make sense of anything.
  2. (intransitive) To talk incoherently; to utter meaningless words.
  3. (intransitive) To talk too much; to chatter; to prattle.
  4. (intransitive) To make a continuous murmuring noise, like shallow water running over stones.
    • William Wordsworth
      In every babbling brook he finds a friend.
    Hounds are said to babble, or to be babbling, when they are too noisy after having found a good scent.
  5. (transitive) To utter in an indistinct or incoherent way; to repeat words or sounds in a childish way without understanding.
    • John Arbuthnot
      These words he used to babble in all companies.
  6. (transitive) To reveal; to give away (a secret).
Translations Translations Translations Noun

babble (uncountable)

  1. Idle talk; senseless prattle
    Synonyms: gabble, twaddle
    • 1634, John Milton, Comus, a Mask, line 823:
      This is mere moral babble.
  2. Inarticulate speech; constant or confused murmur.
    • Charles Darwin
      The babble of our young children.
  3. A sound like that of water gently flowing around obstructions.
    • Alfred Tennyson
      The babble of the stream.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations

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