Babble
to utter sounds or words imperfectly, indistinctly, or without meaning.
to talk idly, irrationally, excessively, or foolishly; chatter or prattle.
to make a continuous, murmuring sound.
to utter in an incoherent, foolish, or meaningless fashion.
to reveal foolishly or thoughtlessly:
to babble a secret.
inarticulate or imperfect speech.
foolish, meaningless, or incoherent speech; prattle.
a murmuring sound or a confusion of sounds.
babbling (def 2).
Telecommunications. a confused mixture of extraneous sounds in a circuit, resulting from cross talk from other channels.
Compare cross talk (def 1).
Contemporary Examples
Her work has appeared in The Boston Globe, Washington Post, Salon, and babble.
You’re Pregnant, Have a Drink Kate Tuttle October 5, 2010
Taffy Brodesser-Akner has written for the Los Angeles Times, Salon, and babble, among other publications.
Who’s Killing the Soaps? Taffy Brodesser-Akner December 13, 2009
In fact, I described them this way myself when I wrote about infant memory two years ago for babble.
What Your Baby Remembers Heather Turgeon November 8, 2010
Historical Examples
Suddenly there was a confusion in the ladies’ gallery, cries, a babble of tongues.
The King of Schnorrers Israel Zangwill
Thence a babble of excited voices had reached him as he approached.
The Sea-Hawk Raphael Sabatini
They have undone it and gone to pieces with an injured lover’s babble of persecuting inquiries for confessions.
The Tragic Comedians, Complete George Meredith
Her words, too, were incoherent, as incoherent as the babble of the children themselves.
The Twins of Suffering Creek Ridgwell Cullum
The point is that he babbles and is going to babble again, if he has another try at it.
Right Ho, Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse
Donegal listened; and there was no babble of voices, and the rest of the orchestra was silent.
Death of a Spaceman Walter M. Miller
There was a babble of welcome, a cross-fire of question and answer.
Regiment of Women Clemence Dane
verb
to utter (words, sounds, etc) in an incoherent or indistinct jumble
(intransitive) to talk foolishly, incessantly, or irrelevantly
(transitive) to disclose (secrets, confidences, etc) carelessly or impulsively
(intransitive) (of streams, birds, etc) to make a low murmuring or bubbling sound
noun
incoherent or foolish speech; chatter
a murmuring or bubbling sound
v.
mid-13c., babeln “to prattle, chatter,” akin to other Western European words for stammering and prattling (cf. Swedish babbla, Old French babillier) attested from the same era, some of which probably were borrowed from others, but etymologists cannot now determine which were original. Probably imitative of baby-talk, in any case (cf. Latin babulus “babbler,” Greek barbaros “non-Greek-speaking”). “No direct connexion with Babel can be traced; though association with that may have affected the senses” [OED]. Meaning “to repeat oneself incoherently, speak foolishly” is attested from c.1400. Related: Babbled; babbling.
n.
“idle talk,” c.1500, from babble (v.). In 16c., commonly in reduplicated form bibble-babble.
Read Also:
- Babbler
a person or thing that babbles. any of the birds of the family Timaliidae, many of which have a loud, babbling cry. Historical Examples It is difficult to live amongst men, because silence is so difficult— especially for a babbler. Thus Spake Zarathustra Friedrich Nietzsche Under this mask which resembles him, I will drive away […]
- Babbling
foolish or meaningless chatter; prattle: the constant babbling of idle gossips. the random production of meaningless vocal sounds characteristic of infants after about the sixth week. chattering or prattling aimlessly. to utter sounds or words imperfectly, indistinctly, or without meaning. to talk idly, irrationally, excessively, or foolishly; chatter or prattle. to make a continuous, murmuring […]
- Babbling brook
noun (Austral, slang) a cook Contemporary Examples There was no babbling brook in the background—just the sound of New York traffic. Wedding Bells at N.Y. City Hall Jessica Bennett July 24, 2011 Historical Examples Skip across this little temporary bridge over this babbling brook and now—climb! The Johnstown Horror James Herbert Walker Is the stream […]
- Babbling error
babbling error networking An Ethernet node attempting to transmit more than 1518 data bytes – the largest allowed Ethernet packet. This is why the Maximum Transmission Unit for IP traffic on Ethernet is 1500. [Why 1518?] (1998-03-13)
- Babcock test
a test for determining the butterfat content of milk and milk products, conducted by adding sulfuric acid to a sample and then centrifuging it in a flask with a calibrated neck in which the liquefied fat collects. Historical Examples The Babcock test for determining the butter fat, and the centrifugal separater for extracting the cream, […]