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).
Origin of babble
Synonyms
See more synonyms for babble on Thesaurus.comExamples from the Web for babble
Contemporary Examples
In fact, I described them this way myself when I wrote about infant memory two years ago for Babble.
Her work has appeared in The Boston Globe, Washington Post, Salon, and Babble.
Taffy Brodesser-Akner has written for the Los Angeles Times, Salon, and Babble, among other publications.
Historical Examples
Thence a babble of excited voices had reached him as he approached.
The Sea-HawkRaphael Sabatini
Her words, too, were incoherent, as incoherent as the babble of the children themselves.
The Twins of Suffering CreekRidgwell Cullum
Donegal listened; and there was no babble of voices, and the rest of the orchestra was silent.
Death of a SpacemanWalter M. Miller
For a time Renouard, silent, as if he had not heard a word of all that babble, did not stir.
Within the TidesJoseph Conrad
There was a babble of voices from the loudspeaker, punctuated by bursts of static.
Death WishRobert Sheckley
babble
- to utter (words, sounds, etc) in an incoherent or indistinct jumble
- (intr) to talk foolishly, incessantly, or irrelevantly
- (tr) to disclose (secrets, confidences, etc) carelessly or impulsively
- (intr) (of streams, birds, etc) to make a low murmuring or bubbling sound
- incoherent or foolish speech; chatter
- a murmuring or bubbling sound
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for babble
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.