Library / English Dictionary

BABBLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Gibberish resembling the sounds of a baby

Synonyms:

babble; babbling; lallation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("babble" is a kind of...):

gibber; gibberish (unintelligible talking)

Derivation:

babble (to talk foolishly)

babble (utter meaningless sounds, like a baby, or utter in an incoherent way)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Divulge confidential information or secrets

Example:

Be careful--his secretary talks

Synonyms:

babble; babble out; blab; blab out; let the cat out of the bag; peach; sing; spill the beans; talk; tattle

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "babble" is one way to...):

break; bring out; disclose; discover; divulge; expose; give away; let on; let out; reveal; uncover; unwrap (make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret)

Verb group:

spill; talk (reveal information)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

To talk foolishly

Example:

The two women babbled and crooned at the baby

Synonyms:

babble; blather; blether; blither; smatter

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "babble" is one way to...):

blab; blabber; chatter; clack; gabble; gibber; maunder; palaver; piffle; prate; prattle; tattle; tittle-tattle; twaddle (speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantly)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue babble

Derivation:

babble (gibberish resembling the sounds of a baby)

babbler (an obnoxious and foolish and loquacious talker)

babbling (gibberish resembling the sounds of a baby)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Utter meaningless sounds, like a baby, or utter in an incoherent way

Example:

The old man is only babbling--don't pay attention

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "babble" is one way to...):

mouth; speak; talk; utter; verbalise; verbalize (express in speech)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue babble

Derivation:

babble (gibberish resembling the sounds of a baby)

babbler (an obnoxious and foolish and loquacious talker)

babbling (gibberish resembling the sounds of a baby)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Flow in an irregular current with a bubbling noise

Example:

babbling brooks

Synonyms:

babble; bubble; burble; guggle; gurgle; ripple

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "babble" is one way to...):

go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)

Verb group:

gurgle (make sounds similar to gurgling water)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Credits

 Context examples: 

"In the name of goodness, child, what are you babbling about?"

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

With the dignity of an elder, he rose to his feet, and waited for silence amid the babble of voices.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

At sight of his master's sudden departure, the varlet Watkin set off after him, with the pack-mule beside him, so that the four clattered away down the road together, until they swept round a curve and their babble was but a drone in the distance.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Looking back down the pool-strewn road, he saw the two excited philosophers waving their hands and shouting at each other, but their babble soon became a mere drone in the distance, and a turn in the road hid them from his sight.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He looked—and this is said in all contempt for the babbled slander of his garden—as if he had "killed a man."

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)