gab
verb (used without object)
to talk or chat idly; chatter.
gab
1 American
[gab]
/ gæb /
verb (used without object)
-
gabs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
gabbed,
past participle, past
-
gabbing
present participle
noun
gab
2
American
[gab]
/ gæb /
noun
Machinery.
gab
3
American
[gab]
/ gæb /
noun
Scot. Slang.
gab
1
British
/ ɡæb /
verb
noun
-
idle or trivial talk
-
ability to speak effortlessly, glibly, or persuasively
gab
2
British
/ ɡæb /
noun
-
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
GAB
3
British
abbreviation
gab
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
gabsimple
-
gabssimple
-
have gabbedperfect
-
has gabbedperfect
-
am gabbingprogressive
-
are gabbingprogressive
-
is gabbingprogressive
-
have been gabbingperfect progressive
-
has been gabbingperfect progressive
Past
-
gabbedsimple
-
had gabbedperfect
-
was gabbingprogressive
-
were gabbingprogressive
-
had been gabbingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of gab1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English noun gab, gabbe “deceit, falsehood, idle talk”; probably from Old Norse gabba “to mock”; cf. gabble
Origin of gab2
First recorded in 1790–95; origin uncertain; possibly from Dutch dialect gabbe “notch, gash”
Explanation
When you gab, you chatter on and on. You might like to gab on the phone with your friend after school. To talk and talk, especially about gossipy or trivial things, is to gab. Your dad might gab over the fence with the neighbor, and you may sit in the front of the bus so you can gab with the friendly driver. You can also describe the chatter itself as gab. The oldest meaning of gab may come from thirteenth century Scottish dialect, "to reproach," although it may in fact be rooted in the Old French gobe, "mouthful or lump."
Vocabulary lists containing gab
Talk the Talk: Synonyms for "Wordy"
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The Egypt Game
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Absolutely Normal Chaos
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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:
Anyone who has ever watched an interview with Mr. McConaughey, or delved into his enchanting memoir “Greenlights,” is aware that listening to him gab is a treat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
"Laurent had the good-natured gab, Simone the uncompromising discourse," French newspaper Le Monde said of the Gbagbos' political partnership.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2025
Workplaces provided easy ways to form friendships or at least gab by the water cooler—a particularly important resource in a country where 15 percent of Americans have one close friend, if any.
From Slate ● Nov. 26, 2024
Now they're meeting at Mar-a-Lago in free-wheeling gab sessions around the golf course and the dining-room tables.
From Salon ● Nov. 13, 2024
Behind Nat a deep voice rumbled, “Avast there, Ben Meeker! Stow that gab about being becalmed!”
From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham
A report from Attorney General Brad Schimel released last month faulted the GAB with poor security measures that allowed secret documents to be leaked to a newspaper.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 22, 2018
The GAB was dissolved and replaced with separate Ethics and Elections commissions.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 12, 2017
The Ethics Commission said in its letter that Schimel failed to acknowledge “major security improvements” put in place after the GAB was dissolved in 2015.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 12, 2017
The GAB was established in 2007, with overwhelming bipartisan support following a major corruption scandal.
From Salon ● Jan. 9, 2016
I am not of their land, neither of their fashion," said the Knight, "which is, as thou well sayest, to GAB of that which they dare not undertake—or, undertaking, cannot perfect.
From The Talisman by Sir Walter Scott
Paul puts ‘bust’ in filibuster He doesn’t make it on the list of longest Senate gabs — but reading from Twitter instead of phone books might be a first.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 8, 2013
And in an era in which Lady Gaga gabs on about subverting gender and sexuality norms, these fellows strut the strut.
From New York Times ● Aug. 1, 2012
Mark, a towering, perennially upbeat presence, relentlessly gabs away; Jay, short and bearded, lingers alongside.
From New York Times ● Jun. 11, 2010
Scarlet gabs on a phone attached to the wall, Ruby reads a book, and Carmen admires herself in the sunlight that cascades through a window.
From Slate ● May 26, 2009
Mrs. Fischer gabs about our quest to save the coyote until Ms. Andrews cuts her off.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
He’s a guy who has actually governed, not just gabbed about it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2021
Just around the corner from the VA hospital where Cline worked, families huddled maskless and gabbed over heaps of pasta at the local Olive Garden.
From Salon ● Jan. 1, 2021
Some people gabbed, some groused; others stood silently, forming a line that snaked around the block, waiting for Century 21, the Lower Manhattan bargain hunters’ mecca, to open for business.
From New York Times ● Sep. 10, 2020
Later, backstage, she gabbed with Blair Michaels, another one of Town’s original drag queens, who had traveled from Buffalo and walked with a cane after recent hip surgery.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 1, 2018
As she drifted out the door and back to the Casa Rosada, April wondered why she’d gabbed so much.
From "The Egypt Game" by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
As far as we can tell, Trump didn’t talk to Kamala Harris, in the row ahead of him, beside the Bidens, though she did shoot a look at Obama and Trump while they were gabbing.
From Slate ● Jan. 9, 2025
Sure, sometimes coworkers can feel like friends, but that doesn’t mean you can spend an hour gabbing about last night’s date.
From Salon ● Jan. 6, 2025
Residents go to the post office on Fetters Mill Road near the old train tracks to snag their letters and packages while gabbing with friends and relatives they run into.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 21, 2022
I’ll listen to any type of podcast as long as it’s diverting — an interview, a historical recapitulation, a true-crime saga, two pals gabbing.
From New York Times ● Jul. 30, 2022
It’s the same one I rode in to the Grotes’, with Mr. Sorenson gabbing cheerfully the whole way.
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
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.
