babble
bab·ble (bab′əl)
intransitive verb -·bled, -·bling
- to make incoherent sounds, as a baby does; prattle
- to talk foolishly or too much; blab
- to make a low, bubbling sound, as a brook does when flowing over stones
Etymology: ME bablen; akin to Norw bable, Swed babbla, Ger babbeln, to prattle, L balbutire, to stammer, Sans balbuthah, stammerer: of echoic orig.
transitive verb
- to say indistinctly or incoherently
- to say foolishly or unadvisedly; blab
noun
- confused, incoherent talk or vocal sounds
- foolish or meaningless talk
- a low, bubbling sound
babble
v.
Object
- brook: WEST Bridge Your're standing on a small wooden bridge spanning a babbling brook.
- gurgle: She babbles, gurgles, giggles, sucks on her bottle or dummy and cries when waking up.
- stream: The weir that lends the place its name flanks the cottage and a softly babbling stream runs through the back courtyard.
- sound: Joe then started to place his head at the side of mine and make a babbling sound.
- nonsense: The wine must have addled your brain, Stranger, or else your mind is always like this, making you babble endless nonsense.
Adjective modifier
- meaningless: Everything else read and sounded like meaningless babble to them.
- psycho: MATTHEWS: Well, now we get into some psycho babble right up front.
- inane: Just the thoughts of a sleep deprived student, that may or may not be inane babble!
Modifying Another Word
- incoherently: During his New Jersey trial, he sometimes moaned and babbled incoherently and would foam at the mouth.
- away: There are French people staying here, so I might take the opportunity to babble away in a language I know.
- about: What, in short, is he babbling about?
- just: Anyways, I wanted to babble just a little bit about themes.
- n't: Don't give one word answers and do n't babble Yes and no answers may make an interviewer think you are not really interested.
- still: I'm still babbling about it incessantly with a stupid fixed grin over my face!
Followed by an intransitive particle
- on: Mansell babbles on - cruel, cold, calm executioner.
Preposition: of
- voice: I don't mean making our voice powerful enough to be heard above the babble of voices in today's world.
Noun used with modifier
- psycho-annalysis: And now preparing for my psychology paper tomorrow, but figured I need a break from psycho-annalysis babble.
- techno: P&DR is just ' HR techno babble ' and the University won't actually carry it out fairly.
- marketing: It is difficult to compare the content management products available because of the widespread use of jargon, buzzwords, and marketing babble.
Preposition: like
- baby: She can laugh cry or babble just like a real baby.
Browse dictionary entries near babble
- Babbitt metal
- babbitt
- Babbage, Charles
- Babbage
- babassu
- Babar
- baba ghanouj
- baba au rhum
- Bab el Mandeb
- Bab
- -babble
- babe
- Babel
- Baber
- babesiosis
- Babi
- babiche
- babies' breath
- babirusa
- Babism
