blab
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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idle, indiscreet chattering.
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a person who blabs; blabbermouth.
verb
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to divulge (secrets) indiscreetly
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(intr) to chatter thoughtlessly; prattle
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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blabsimple
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blabssimple
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have blabbedperfect
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has blabbedperfect
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am blabbingprogressive
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are blabbingprogressive
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is blabbingprogressive
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have been blabbingperfect progressive
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has been blabbingperfect progressive
Past
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blabbedsimple
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had blabbedperfect
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was blabbingprogressive
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were blabbingprogressive
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had been blabbingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of blab
1325–75; Middle English blabbe (noun), perhaps back formation from blaberen to blabber; cognate with Old Norse blabbra, German plappern
Explanation
To blab is to gossip about or reveal a secret you promised to keep. You might accidentally blab to your dad about your brother getting in trouble at school. A reporter could take you by surprise and get you to blab about your movie star neighbor, and it might be hard for a little kid not to blab about the birthday gift he's giving his sister. Another way to blab is simply to talk a lot: "I sat there and listened to him blab about all the famous people he knows." Blab comes from the Middle English blabbe, "one who does not control his tongue."
Vocabulary lists containing blab
When I Was the Greatest
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The Egypt Game
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See You in the Cosmos
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The office biohacker who won’t shut up about his sleep score may also blab about nitrogen levels in his soil.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 9, 2026
"All the 'career prosecutors' I know would never ever blab to a reporter about an ongoing case," tweets lawyer Tristan Snell.
From Salon • Sep. 23, 2022
“But if we won, and if one person were to say something, Peyton would come by and say, ‘Yeah, you win one match and you have to blab about it to everybody?’
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 29, 2021
West used to be a pop-culture insurgent who only knew forward motion, an egomaniacal maestro whose most self-centered blab usually erupted in the direction of truth.
From Washington Post • Oct. 28, 2019
I don’t know what made me blab about it to Camille and Darrell.
From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
