babble

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[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

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.

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Noun

Singular
babble

Plural
uncountable

babble (uncountable)

  1. Idle talk; senseless prattle; gabble; twaddle.
    • "This is mere moral babble." Milton.
  2. 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.
  3. A sound of or alike that which of flowing water.

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] Translations

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[edit] Verb

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)

  1. (intransitive) To utter words indistinctly or unintelligibly; to utter inarticulate sounds; as, a child babbles.
  2. (intransitive) To talk incoherently; to utter unmeaning words.
  3. (intransitive) To talk much; to chatter; to prate.
  4. (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.
  5. (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.
  6. (transitive) To disclose by too free talk, as a secret.

[edit] Translations

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