noun
Meaning 1
Idle talk; senseless prattle.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: gabble, twaddle
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
noun
Idle talk; senseless prattle.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: gabble, twaddle
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Inarticulate speech; constant or confused murmur.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A sound like that of water gently flowing around obstructions.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To utter words indistinctly or unintelligibly; to utter inarticulate sounds
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To talk incoherently; to utter meaningless words.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To talk too much; to chatter; to prattle.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To make a continuous murmuring noise, like shallow water running over stones.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To utter in an indistinct or incoherent way; to repeat words or sounds in a childish way without understanding.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To reveal; to give away (a secret).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
gibberish resembling the sounds of a baby
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: babbling, lallation
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: gibberish, gibber
verb
divulge confidential information or secrets
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Synonyms: spill the beans, let the cat out of the bag, talk, tattle, blab, peach, sing, babble out, blab out
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: unwrap, disclose, let on, bring out, reveal, discover, expose, divulge, break, give away, let out
verb
to talk foolishly
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Synonyms: blather, smatter, blether, blither
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: chatter, piffle, palaver, prate, tittle-tattle, twaddle, clack, maunder, prattle, blab, gibber, tattle, blabber, gabble
verb
utter meaningless sounds, like a baby, or utter in an incoherent way
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: talk, speak, utter, mouth, verbalize, verbalise
verb
flow in an irregular current with a bubbling noise
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Synonyms: ripple, guggle, burble, bubble, gurgle
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: sound, go
History
From Middle English babelen, from Old English *bæblian, also wæflian (“to talk foolishly”), from Proto-West Germanic *bablōn, *wablōn, variants of *babalōn, from Proto-Germanic *babalōną (“to chatter”), from Proto-Indo-European *bha-bha-, perhaps a reduplication of Proto-Indo-European *bheh2- (“to say”), or a variant of Proto-Indo-European *baba- (“to talk vaguely, mumble”), or a merger of the two, possibly ultimately onomatopoeic/mimicry of infantile sounds (compare babe, baby). Cognate with Saterland Frisian babbelje (“to babble”), West Frisian babbelje (“to babble”), Dutch babbelen (“to babble, chat”), German Low German babbeln (“to babble”), German babbeln (“to babble”), Danish bable, bavle (“to babble”), Swedish babbla (“to babble”), Icelandic babla (“to babble”). Unrelated to Babel.
Across languages
240 source translations are retained for this English entry.