noun
Meaning 1
A tattletale.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
tattle
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
Pronunciation
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.
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˈtæt(ə)l/
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General-American: /ˈtætl̩/
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General-American: [-æɾl̩]
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Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -ætəl
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CMU ARPABET: T AE1 T AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
Often said of children: a piece of incriminating information or an account of wrongdoing that is said about another person.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Canada, US, countable, derogatory
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
Idle talk; gossip; (countable) an instance of such talk or gossip.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 4
To chatter; to gossip.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 5
Often said of children: to report incriminating information about another person, or a person's wrongdoing in an annoying fashion, usually to a person in a position of authority over the accused person; to tell on somebody.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Canada, US, derogatory, intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 6
To speak like a baby or young child; to babble, to prattle; to speak haltingly; to stutter.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive, obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 7
disclosing information or giving evidence about another
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: singing, telling
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: disclosure, revelation, revealing
verb
Meaning 8
divulge confidential information or secrets
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- Be careful--his secretary talks
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: spill the beans, let the cat out of the bag, talk, blab, peach, babble, 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
Meaning 9
speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantly
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: chatter, piffle, palaver, prate, tittle-tattle, twaddle, clack, maunder, prattle, blab, gibber, blabber, gabble
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: talk, speak, utter, mouth, verbalize, verbalise
Narrower terms: babble, blather, smatter, blether, blither
History
Etymology
From Middle Dutch tatelen, tateren (“to babble, chatter”) (modern Dutch tatelen, tateren (“to talk, chatter”)), originally imitative. The word is cognate with Saterland Frisian tätelje (“to talk nonsense, babble”), Middle Low German tāteren, tadderen (“to babble, chatter”) (whence modern German Low German tatern (“to chatter”)), Low German tateln, täteln (“to cackle, gabble”). Compare also Middle English dadel, dadull (“tattling, gossip”), and its alteration twaddle.
Across languages
Translations
60 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: клюки (kljuki) — idle talk; gossip
- Burmese: အတင်း (a.tang:) — idle talk; gossip
- Czech: žvanění — idle talk; gossip
- Finnish: rupattelu — idle talk; gossip
- Finnish: juoruilu — idle talk; gossip
- Finnish: juttelu — idle talk; gossip
- German: Klatsch — idle talk; gossip
- German: Tratsch — idle talk; gossip
- Bulgarian: дрънкам (drǎnkam) — to chatter — see also chatter, gossip
- Bulgarian: клюкарствам (kljukarstvam) — to chatter — see also chatter, gossip
- Czech: klevetit — to chatter — see also chatter, gossip
- Czech: kecat — to chatter — see also chatter, gossip
- Czech: žvanit — to chatter — see also chatter, gossip
- Czech: klábosit — to chatter — see also chatter, gossip
- Dutch: kletsen — to chatter — see also chatter, gossip
- Dutch: babbelen — to chatter — see also chatter, gossip
- Finnish: juoruilla — to chatter — see also chatter, gossip
- Finnish: rupatella — to chatter — see also chatter, gossip
- Galician: parolar — to chatter — see also chatter, gossip
- Galician: leriar — to chatter — see also chatter, gossip
- German: klatschen — to chatter — see also chatter, gossip
- German: tratschen — to chatter — see also chatter, gossip
- Ido: babilar — to chatter — see also chatter, gossip
- Portuguese: bisbilhotar — to chatter — see also chatter, gossip
- Romanian: bârfi — to chatter — see also chatter, gossip
- Russian: болта́ть (boltátʹ) — to chatter — see also chatter, gossip
- Russian: трепа́ться (trepátʹsja) — to chatter — see also chatter, gossip
- Spanish: charlotear — to chatter — see also chatter, gossip
- Bulgarian: доноснича (donosniča) — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Chinese Mandarin: 打小報告 /打小报告 (dǎ xiǎo bàogào) — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Czech: vyžvanit — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Czech: vykecat — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Czech: žalovat — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Dutch: roddelen — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Dutch: klikken — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Finnish: juoruta — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Finnish: kannella — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Finnish: narauttaa — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- French: cafarder — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- French: cafter — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- French: moucharder — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- German: petzen — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Hungarian: megmond — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Hungarian: árulkodik — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Icelandic: kjafta — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Icelandic: segja frá — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Japanese: 告げ口 (tsugeguchi) — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Macedonian: тужи (tuži) — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Portuguese: dedurar — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Portuguese: delatar — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Romanian: turna — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Russian: я́бедничать (jábedničatʹ) — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Serbo-Croatian: izbr̀bljati — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Serbo-Croatian: избр̀бљати — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Spanish: charlotear — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Spanish: delatar — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Spanish: soplar — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Spanish: chivarse — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Spanish: lambonear — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing
- Vietnamese: hớt — to report incriminating information or wrongdoing