babbling

[ bab-ling ]

/ ˈbæb lɪŋ /

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See 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 around the age of three months.

adjective

chattering or prattling aimlessly: The babbling crowd quieted and funneled back into the auditorium at the end of intermission.

making a continuous murmuring sound: a babbling brook.

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Origin of babbling

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English babelinde, bablyng; see origin at babble, -ing¹ (for the noun senses), -ing² (for the adjective)

OTHER WORDS FROM babbling

bab·bling·ly, adverb

Words nearby babbling

babbitt, Babbitt metal, Babbittry, babble, babbler, babbling, babbling brook, Babcock test, babe, Bab ed-Din, babe-in-a-cradle

How to use babbling in a sentence

The pups’ babbling bouts were repetitive with 77 percent of the syllables uttered were succeeded by the same syllable type.
Both bats and humans test out talking as infants|Sara Kiley Watson|August 20, 2021|Popular-Science
All told, she and her colleagues captured and analyzed 55,056 syllables from 216 bouts of babbling.
These baby greater sac-winged bats babble to learn their mating songs|Jonathan Lambert|August 19, 2021|Science News
Overall, “bat pup babbling is defined by the same characteristics as human infant babbling,” Fernandez says.
These baby greater sac-winged bats babble to learn their mating songs|Jonathan Lambert|August 19, 2021|Science News
That rapid expansion might mean that practice through babbling is less important for certain bat syllables than growing the neurological and physiological capacity through normal development, she says.
These baby greater sac-winged bats babble to learn their mating songs|Jonathan Lambert|August 19, 2021|Science News

The gates happened to have been manually disconnected at the time for maintenance, and the dam was actually just a narrow, 20-foot-high structure holding back a babbling brook.
America’s Drinking Water Is Surprisingly Easy to Poison|by Peter Elkind and Jack Gillum|March 17, 2021|ProPublica
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
But that arch-fiend had been deserted by the majority of his followers, and he was babbling of suicide to his fellow Brahmins.
The Red Year|Louis Tracy
He broke off in his speculations, for the notary was babbling something again.
Jack Harkaway's Boy Tinker Among The Turks|Bracebridge Hemyng
Her presence gave importance to everything,—the song of a bird, the opening of a humble little flower, the babbling of water.
Unveiling a Parallel|Alice Ilgenfritz Jones and Ella Marchant
But the Dean had fallen on his knees before her, and was babbling out prayers for pardon and vows of reform.
Punch, Or The London Charivari, Vol. 99., December 27, 1890|Various
Then he saw a little blue flower, shaped just like a bell, hanging on a stem over a small babbling brook of water.
Uncle Wiggily's Travels|Howard R. Garis