blab
Americanverb (used with object)
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blabs,
present (3rd person singular)
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blabbed,
past participle, past
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blabbing
present participle
verb (used without object)
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blabs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
blabbed,
past participle, past
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blabbing
present participle
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.
See Examples For:
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
Touring musicians drop by one of the store’s three cavernous locations, prowl the labyrinthine sales floor, grab up records by the armful for an hour or so, then blab about their purchases on camera.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 5, 2023
"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
“Right at the beginning. First interview. Blab, blab, blab. I regret it, but I put it out into the ether, and maybe I’ll learn something.”
From The Guardian ● Mar. 22, 2019
That’s something Dana didn’t have to worry about on her big day: a vlogger in the audience waiting for her to make a mistake so he can blab about it to millions of followers.
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
He blabs so much about the trial at his daily press conferences that the judge hands down a gag order.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
Think of the worst person you know: the kind who blabs people’s secrets, mocks their diction, dismisses their pain while making festivals of her own.
From New York Times ● Dec. 18, 2023
En route to the Swiss border, André’s drivers pull over to a rest stop, after he blabs about his plans.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 25, 2023
There’s nothing worse than when our tech blabs on us.
From Fox News ● Oct. 9, 2021
She blabs whatever you tell her to her mother.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
They were technically creative but they seemed young, and they had associates who blabbed about their exploits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
When Lindell blabbed out one anecdote about a “friend,” he wasn’t prepared for De Brasco to ask for that friend’s last name, which Lindell refused to provide.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2024
Attempts by Nixon’s henchmen to discredit Martha Mitchell, after she blabbed about Watergate to reporters to defend her husband from scapegoating, inspired the title of this production, “Gaslit.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 27, 2022
During the on-ice flower ceremony that serves as a prelude to the actual medal distribution, NBC commentators Tom Hammond and Tracy Wilson blabbed throughout the entire thing, rather than let the ceremony speak for itself.
From Slate ● Feb. 18, 2014
Or the detectives blabbed, and now everyone at the station knows our names.
From "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas
Since they chat often enough that we watch them blabbing while brushing their teeth, it might be worth wondering why she wouldn't already know that detail.
From Salon ● Feb. 11, 2023
You’re blabbing about your age group, of which you’re a high-ranking member.
From New York Times ● Oct. 13, 2022
“I know I’m not speechless because I’m blabbing on, but I don’t know what to say,” the 30-year-old Watson said on No. 1 Court.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 1, 2022
Blaming the patient, check; burdening the patient, check; sick-splaining, check; blabbing, check.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 13, 2022
Just a bunch of men singing and blabbing in the Congo language and fixing a roof, that’s all it was.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
