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:
Wearing a black-and-white ensemble that bares her midriff, she tucks her feet under her and treats our chat like a gab session.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 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
It was a running joke that worked every time, but these segments made Kotb feel like a close friend you could gab with over margaritas after work.
From Salon ● Jan. 10, 2025
“America’s Talking gab grabbing cable viewers,” USA Today, July 6, 1995.
From Slate ● Sep. 25, 2024
Tommie Kinnebrew was also new, and we’d learned her name against our will by the sheer force of her gab on the first day of school.
From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
Fitzgerald says it is of the “utmost importance” to learn more about what the GAB board, leadership and staff were doing and what their motivations were.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 19, 2017
Schimel recommended that six former GAB employees and three workers at the Milwaukee County district attorney’s office face contempt of court charges for not following court secrecy orders.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 17, 2017
The GAB was dissolved and replaced with separate Ethics and Elections commissions.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 12, 2017
The GAB was established in 2007, with overwhelming bipartisan support following a major corruption scandal.
From Salon ● Jan. 9, 2016
To GAB, v. n. to prate; to mock.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume XXIV. by Leighton, Alexander
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 ran across an interview transcript between Peter Hujar, a photographer Sachs had long admired, and writer Linda Rosenkrantz, in which the two gabbed in her Manhattan apartment in 1974.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2025
The two strangers gabbed on and on as FitzGerald turned off the highway and looped through side streets.
From Salon ● Jan. 9, 2022
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
It was Feldman’s job to feed her, but they gabbed so much that Fridkin barely go to eat.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 23, 2017
I didn’t want her to change her mind, so I just gabbed on about all sorts of rubbish till we got to Karly’s street.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
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
After much gabbing, those who share a strong connection get engaged and meet for the first time face to face before jetting off for a vacation in Mexico.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2024
Interviewed today in what looks like his den, he sits for Bahrani’s questioning looking like a relatively harmless uncle who can’t stop gabbing about his war stories.
From New York Times ● Dec. 1, 2022
We would stay up all night gabbing, sometimes while Rosa pinned wedding dresses on me that she was altering for work.
From "Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice" by Phillip Hoose
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.
