blab
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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idle, indiscreet chattering.
-
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
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.
But if you descend into this tidy Arlington basement for a zigzag blab about the ideas that animate the band’s music, the paradoxes start piling up fast.
From Washington Post • Nov. 30, 2022
"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
It’s not fun for me to reread the stuff that I blab out about that kind of thing.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 23, 2018
"Confidential. I think he kinda trusts me not to blab his texts, you know?"
From "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan
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.
