babble

[edit] English

Confer Late German babbeln; Dutch babbelen; German bappeln, bappern; French babiller; Italian babbolare; probable origin, to keep saying ba, imitative of a child learning to talk; confer tower of Babel.

Singular
babble

babble (uncountable)

Idle talk; senseless prattle; gabble; twaddle.
- "This is mere moral babble." Milton.
Inarticulate speech, such as was used at the building the tower of Babel; constant or confused murmur.
Quotations
- The babble of our young children. - Darwin.
- The babble of the stream. - Tennyson.
A sound of or alike that which of flowing water.

idle talk

inarticulate speech

the sound of flowing water

Infinitive
to babble

Third person singular
babbles

Simple past
babbled

Past participle
babbled

Present participle
babbling

to babble (third-person singular simple present babbles, present participle babbling, simple past and past participle babbled)

(intransitive) To utter words indistinctly or unintelligibly; to utter inarticulate sounds; as, a child babbles.
(intransitive) To talk incoherently; to utter unmeaning words.
(intransitive) To talk much; to chatter; to prate.
(intransitive) To make a continuous murmuring noise, as shallow water running over stones.
- In every babbling brook he finds a friend. - Wordsworth.
Hounds are said to babble, or to be babbling, when they are too noisy after having found a good scent.
(transitive) To utter in an indistinct or incoherent way; to repeat, as words, in a childish way without understanding.
- These words he used to babble in all companies. - Arbuthnot.
(transitive) To disclose by too free talk, as a secret.