gab1
[gab]Informal.
- to talk or chat idly; chatter.
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- idle talk; chatter.
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Origin of gab1
Synonyms
See more synonyms for gab on Thesaurus.com1. chitchat, gossip, visit; yak, rap, schmooze.
gab2
[gab]
- a hook or fork that engages temporarily with a moving rod or lever.
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Origin of gab2
probably < Dutch dialect gabbe notch, gash
gab3
[gab]
- gob3.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for gab
Contemporary Examples
In our interview, Moreno is effervescent and irreverent, with a genuine gift of the gab.
Rita Moreno, SAG Life Achievement Award Winner, Talks Brando, Elvis And West Side StorySandra McElwaine
January 15, 2014
She apologizes profusely, curls up across from me, and begins to, as she calls it, gab.
But the millennium saw the last of the truly fat rappers: Gift of Gab, J-Live, Bone Crusher, and Fatman Scoop.
Where Have All the Fat Rappers Gone? Or, How Hip-Hop Lost All the Weight.Emilia Petrarca
August 28, 2013
The Gift of Gab, the only original member of Blackalicious present, is twice as big as Big Boi but only half as well known.
Where Have All the Fat Rappers Gone? Or, How Hip-Hop Lost All the Weight.Emilia Petrarca
August 28, 2013
That humid night, I realized I had forgotten how much I loved and missed performers like Gift of Gab, the Fat Boys, and Raekwon.
Where Have All the Fat Rappers Gone? Or, How Hip-Hop Lost All the Weight.Emilia Petrarca
August 28, 2013
Historical Examples
Time after time I've missed scoring a point because the other man has had the gift of the gab and I haven't.
Howards EndE. M. Forster
Yes, Gab flapped in at the shop this afternoon to caw over it.
ShavingsJoseph C. Lincoln
Thought you'd have a cabin full of gab machines by this time.
Keziah CoffinJoseph C. Lincoln
What a fine tall young man he is, and what a gift of the gab.
But Auld Jock had bade him "haud 'is gab" there, as in Greyfriars kirkyard.
Greyfriars BobbyEleanor Atkinson
gab1
- (intr) to talk excessively or idly, esp about trivial matters; gossip; chatter
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- idle or trivial talk
- gift of the gab ability to speak effortlessly, glibly, or persuasively
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Word Origin
C18: variant of Northern dialect gob mouth, probably from Irish Gaelic gob beak, mouth
gab2
- a hook or open notch in a rod or lever that drops over the spindle of a valve to form a temporary connection for operating the valve
- a pointed tool used in masonry
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Word Origin
C18: probably from Flemish gabbe notch, gash
GAB
- Gabon (international car registration)
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for gab
v.
"to reproach," c.1200, via Scottish and northern England dialect, from a Scandinavian source, e.g. Old Norse gabba "to mock," or from Old French gabber "mock, boast," both perhaps ultimately imitative. Related: Gabbed; gabbing. Meaning "to talk much" is from 1786, probably a back-formation from gabble.
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n.
early 14c., "mockery," from Old French gab, from gaber (see gab (v.)); meaning "idle talk" is from 1737. Gift of the gab "talent for speaking" is from 1680s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with gab
gab
see gift of gab.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.