burble
Americanverb (used without object)
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burbles,
present (3rd person singular)
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burbled,
past participle, past
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burbling
present participle
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to make a bubbling sound; bubble.
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to speak in an excited manner; babble.
noun
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a bubbling or gentle flow.
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an excited flow of speech.
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Aeronautics. the breakdown of smooth airflow around a wing at a high angle of attack.
verb
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to make or utter with a bubbling sound; gurgle
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(intr; often foll by away or on) to talk quickly and excitedly
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(intr) (of the airflow around a body) to become turbulent
noun
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a bubbling or gurgling sound
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a flow of excited speech
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turbulence in the airflow around a body
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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burblesimple
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burblessimple
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have burbledperfect
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has burbledperfect
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am burblingprogressive
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are burblingprogressive
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is burblingprogressive
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have been burblingperfect progressive
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has been burblingperfect progressive
Past
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burbledsimple
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had burbledperfect
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was burblingprogressive
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were burblingprogressive
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had been burblingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of burble
1275–1325; Middle English; perhaps variant of bubble
Explanation
To burble is to move with a rippling flow, the way water bubbles down the side of a small garden waterfall. A stream burbles as it travels along its bed, bubbling over rocks and branches. The verb burble captures both the movement of the water and the sound it makes as it moves. You could also say that a brook or stream or river babbles or ripples or even trickles. The word burble was first used in the 1300's, and it probably comes from an imitation of the sound a rippling, bubbling brook makes.
Vocabulary lists containing burble
"Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll
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1-2-3 Scream!
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The Woman Warrior
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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:
Even when he was trying to sound upbeat, the river of resentment would burble up in his mannerisms and his peevish voice.
From Salon ● Jan. 23, 2024
Much of the stream called Little Brook flows below the pavement in Seattle’s Lake City neighborhood, emerging for just a moment to burble through a small park shadowed by apartment buildings.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 19, 2022
Groundwater has begun to burble up in spots.
From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2022
First one manatee surfaces, making that now-familiar burble as it takes a deep breath.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 25, 2022
I heard clanging metal drums and the burble of a ram’s horn.
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
Birds sing and the Lukaya River burbles along the valley floor.
From Barron's ● Nov. 26, 2025
One line of evidence came from isotope measurements of helium that burbles up in Tibetan springs.
From Science Magazine ● Jan. 9, 2024
The creek, a tributary to the wild Chinook-bearing Chehalis River, burbles beneath the ridge.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 23, 2023
The queen burbles, she merrily slings lingo such as “Tinkety-tonk, old fruit,” she slurps gin at untoward hours and underneath it all, as one character observes, she’s as tough as an old boot.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 25, 2020
I don’t know if anything I said made sense, but somewhere between the gray sidewalk and the gray sky, a laugh burbles out of me.
From "The Benefits of Being an Octopus" by Ann Braden
A stone fountain burbled softly in his Japanese-inspired peace garden.
From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2026
After Justice Arthur Engoron handed down that hefty penalty in the fraud case, Eric Trump burbled some nonsense about how his dad had created the skyline of the city.
From Salon ● Feb. 29, 2024
Earlier this week, as the Beltway burbled with speculation about California’s Senate seat, the liberal commentator Jonathan Capehart shared his thoughts on Twitter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2023
Alabama and Texas A&M illustrated one of the byproducts that have burbled up out of college football’s ever-shifting ecosystem.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 9, 2022
As he spoke, Spoon Man whistled like the wind and burbled thunder from his lips, flailing his arms to capture the fury of the tempest.
From "Stella by Starlight" by Sharon M. Draper
Ditto a reversal by NASA, whose then-leader enjoyed burbling in public about aliens but was soon assembling an expert panel to debunk such careless if crowd-pleasing talk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Meghan is a wealthy American woman living a royal dream, if you ignore the geyser of British tabloid bile constantly burbling in the background of her life.
From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2025
Along the way, I spotted flashy displays of yellow balsamroot and purple lupine as my family meandered alongside burbling Cowiche Creek.
From Seattle Times ● May 18, 2024
Before the war, the area abutting the school had been a little park, complete with burbling fountain.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2024
As he got closer to the pool, Fred heard burbling water and an angry voice off in the distance.
From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein
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.
