Babble

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Table of contents

1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Noun 1.2.1 Also 1.3 Intransitive Verb 1.4 Transitive Verb

English

Etymology

Cf. Late German babbeln; D. babbelen; German bappeln, bappern; French babiller; Italian babbolare; probable origin, to keep saying ba, imitative of a child learning to talk.

Noun

1. Idle talk; senseless prattle; gabble; twaddle. "This is mere moral babble." Milton.
2. Inarticulate speech; constant or confused murmur.

   Quotations

   • The babble of our young children. - Darwin.
   • The babble of the stream. - Tennyson.

Also

• Babblement (Hawthorne)
• Babblery (Sir Thomas More)

Intransitive Verb

• imperfect & past participle: Babbled
• present participle & verbal noun: Babbling

1. To utter words indistinctly or unintelligibly; to utter inarticulate sounds; as, a child babbles.
2. To talk incoherently; to utter unmeaning words.
3. To talk much; to chatter; to prate.
4. 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 Verb

1. 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.

2. To disclose by too free talk, as a secret.