babel

See also: Babel, Bábel, bąbel, and Bąbel

English

Pronunciation

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Noun

babel (usually uncountable, plural babels)

1. Alternative form of Babel.
2. A confused noise made by a number of voices.
   • 1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 11:

     I closed the door hurriedly on the babel and groped my way back to bed. At that moment bed seemed to be the one safe, comforting thing in my whole baffling environment.

   • 1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados:

     He had already demanded the attention of the manager, Professor Bulge, Draycott and two underlings to his case and they were now involved in a babel of inutile reiteration.

   • 1958 February, Arthur F. Beckenham, “A Journey in the Belgian Congo”, in Railway Magazine, page 93:

     […] up in front the third and fourth class passengers were making a babel of noise as they either detrained or entrained together with their large families and strange collection of parcels, bundles and earthenware jars.

References

• “babel”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “babel”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Anagrams

• Bable, Labbe