babbling

[bab-ling]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR babbling ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

foolish or meaningless chatter; prattle: the constant babbling of idle gossips.

the random production of meaningless vocal sounds characteristic of infants after about the sixth week.

adjective

chattering or prattling aimlessly.

Origin of babbling

Middle English word dating back to 1200–50; see origin at babble, -ing¹, -ing²

Related formsbab·bling·ly, adverb

babble

[bab-uhl]

verb (used without object), bab·bled, bab·bling.

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.

verb (used with object), bab·bled, bab·bling.

to utter in an incoherent, foolish, or meaningless fashion.

to reveal foolishly or thoughtlessly: to babble a secret.

noun

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

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English babelen; cognate with Old Norse babbla, Dutch babbelen, German pappelen

Related formsout·bab·ble, verb (used with object), out·bab·bled, out·bab·bling.

Can be confusedbabble bauble bubble

Synonyms for babble

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR babble ON THESAURUS.COM

2. chitchat, gabble, drivel, blather. 3. murmur, gurgle, burble.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for babbling

blathering, chitchatting, gibbering, blithering, blabbering, jabbering, gurgling, bubbling

Examples from the Web for babbling

Contemporary Examples of babbling

Language was no barrier; just about every tongue on the planet was babbling away, caught up in the elaborate mystique of a cult.
Sherlock Holmes Vs. Jack the Ripper
Clive Irving
November 16, 2014
I realize now that I spoke to her in paragraphs, babbling on and on, while she talked sparingly but concisely.
Marilyn and Me: On the 50th Anniversary of Monroe’s Death
Lawrence Schiller
August 5, 2012
Children splash around in the babbling river where the infection began, women washing and bathing on rocks in the sun.
United Nations Still Denies its Troops Brought Cholera to Haiti
Jonathan M. Katz
April 4, 2012
There was no babbling brook in the background—just the sound of New York traffic.
Wedding Bells at N.Y. City Hall
Jessica Bennett
July 25, 2011

Historical Examples of babbling

Her eyes were alight, and she was babbling away to her aunt.
The Incomplete Amorist
E. Nesbit
You're afraid of my making you split upon some of your babbling just now, are you, Sneak?'
Life And Adventures Of Martin Chuzzlewit
Charles Dickens
Or if he did, he was diplomatic enough not to jeopardize his post by babbling of it to me.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science September 1930
Various
Plainly the babblers were approaching along that entry and babbling as they came.
Fair Harbor
Joseph Crosby Lincoln
It was his babbling about Dom Diego that had ruined the genial old physician.
Dreamers of the Ghetto
I. Zangwill

British Dictionary definitions for babbling

babble

verb

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

noun

incoherent or foolish speech; chatter

a murmuring or bubbling sound

Derived Formsbabblement, nounbabbling, noun, adjective

Word Origin for babble

C13: compare Dutch babbelen, Swedish babbla, French babiller to prattle, Latin babulus fool; probably all of imitative origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for babbling

babble

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.

babble

"idle talk," c.1500, from babble (v.). In 16c., commonly in reduplicated form bibble-babble.