gabble

American  

[gab-uhl] / ˈgæb əl /

verb (used without object)

• gabbles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• gabbled,
  past participle,  past
• gabbling
  present participle

1. to speak or converse rapidly and unintelligibly; jabber.

2. (of hens, geese, etc.) to cackle.

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verb (used with object)

• gabbles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• gabbled,
  past participle,  past
• gabbling
  present participle

1. to utter rapidly and unintelligibly.

noun

1. rapid, unintelligible talk.

2. any quick succession of meaningless sounds.

gabble British  

/ ˈɡæbəl /

verb

1. to utter (words, etc) rapidly and indistinctly; jabber

2. (intr) (of geese and some other birds or animals) to utter rapid cackling noises

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noun

1. rapid and indistinct speech or noises

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• gabbler
  noun
• outgabble
  verb (used with object)

Inflected Forms

Participles

• gabbling
  present
• gabbled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• gabble
  simple
• gabbles
  simple
• have gabbled
  perfect
• has gabbled
  perfect
• am gabbling
  progressive
• are gabbling
  progressive
• is gabbling
  progressive
• have been gabbling
  perfect progressive
• has been gabbling
  perfect progressive

Past

• gabbled
  simple
• had gabbled
  perfect
• was gabbling
  progressive
• were gabbling
  progressive
• had been gabbling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will gabble
  simple
• will have gabbled
  perfect
• will be gabbling
  progressive
• will have been gabbling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of gabble

First recorded in 1570–80; perhaps from Middle Dutch gabbelen, or an expressive formation in English; cf. gab ¹, gob ⁴, -le

Explanation

When you gabble, you talk so fast that you can barely be understood. A nervous public speaker might gabble for several minutes before she's able to get her point across. If you're gossiping about a neighbor and suddenly realize he's standing behind you, you might gabble for a while from the sheer awkwardness of the situation. Your grandmother might declare that she doesn't understand the music you like, saying, "They don't sing — they just gabble!" Gabble is a noun, too, meaning the sound itself: "See? It's all just gabble!" Gabble has a Dutch root, gabbelen, which is imitative — it sounds just like what it means.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gabble gabbles gabbled gabbling

And Lucky’s monologue—veering inanely through realms including religion, academics and sports—is delivered by Mr. Thornton not, as it usually is, as a galloping pile of gabble, but with a musing seriousness.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2025

At 41, he is disarmingly boyish, with a cherub’s fleshy face and a tendency to gabble enthusiastically when a subject excites him.

From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2016

The book consists entirely of the gabble and complaints of those buried in a village cemetery.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 8, 2015

Perhaps it was because I am tall; I gabble; I'm often accused of being reserved and sarcastic; and I don't like politicians much.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 2, 2013

Music from an unseen orchestra was barely audible over the gabble of conversation.

From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo

Mr. Bernthal, an Emmy winner for “The Bear,” imbues Sonny with a pinballing energy as he gabbles orders at the hostages and begins flailing negotiations with the cops massing outside.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026

He plays tenor saxophone in cries and gabbles and interval jumps and long tones; his music usually describes motion and spirit rather than corresponding to preset tonal centers, rhythms, and melodies.

From New York Times ● Jun. 12, 2014

King Kong has so much to say, often in interesting ways, that it gabbles and fluffs its lines.

From The Guardian ● Jun. 16, 2013

He approves of wordlessness – the less you talk, the longer you live, one fisherman tells him – but gabbles away like mad in his diary.

From The Guardian ● Jun. 1, 2013

The sky is overcast at times with dove-coloured clouds; the forest now gabbles, now groans in the glittering summer sunshine.

From Tales of the Wilderness by Boris Pilniak

Harvey’s first collaboration with John Parish, Dance Hall at Louse Point, at its most strange and unpredictable: a gabbled, whispered vocal over a chaotic backing that occasionally resolves into something like an alt-rock chorus.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 11, 2019

Advance word on “Hereditary” told, or gabbled, of something more arresting than a regular fright night.

From The New Yorker ● Jun. 8, 2018

Another controversial early work, Eight Songs for a Mad King, combined monologues spoken, shrieked and gabbled by the mad George III with fragments of Handel's Messiah.

From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2016

True, the narration that bookends the show includes gabbled allusions to Chekhov’s life: apparently there are some incidental connections between him and a Russian baron in Lugano, Switzerland, whence hails Mr. Finzi Pasca.

From New York Times ● Nov. 16, 2012

The baby and the dæmon gabbled cautiously together.

From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman

Others were scattered around, calling out for the child in their irritating gabbling.

From Slate ● Jan. 30, 2021

This humanoid bot gave a speech to the UN, became a “citizen” of Saudi Arabia, and triggered headlines like “Sophia wants a baby” after gabbling some vague, pre-programmed remarks about the importance of families.

From The Verge ● Dec. 20, 2017

I remembered, as I listened to Best's gabbling patter, that Simon Callow once described Saint-Saëns as "the Escoffier of music".

From The Guardian ● Jul. 13, 2013

The key may lie in "gabbling," the Irish word for what goes inside each of our minds.

From Golf Digest ● Feb. 12, 2013

She was gabbling something to Mr. Taphouse, but he couldn’t make it out either, because he said, “Slow down, Sister. Slow down. Take a breath and speak slowly.”

From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman