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garble

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The definition of garble is to do something to a message so that it cannot be understood, or the reproduction of a sound or story so that the original meaning is distorted or lost.

(verb)

When you are told a story about why someone was late but you completely miss the point of the story and retell an incorrect and messed up account of what happened, this is an example of when you garble the story.
When a radio frequency transmitting a broadcast doesn't come in clearly and the voices sound distorted, this is an example of when the broadcast is garbled.

See garble in Webster's New World College Dictionary

transitive verb garbled, garbling

1. Obsolete to sort by sifting
2. Rare to select the best parts of
to suppress or distort parts of (a story, etc.) in telling, so as to mislead or misrepresent
to confuse or mix up (a quotation, story, message, etc.) unintentionally, as through inaccurate copying or poor radio transmission

Origin: ME garbelen < It garbellare, to sift < garbello, a sieve < Ar gharbāl, earlier ghirbāl < LL cribellum, small sieve, dim. of L cribrum, a sieve, akin to cernere: see critic

noun

the act or result of garbling

Related Forms:

garbler noun

See garble in American Heritage Dictionary 4

transitive verb gar·bled, gar·bling, gar·bles

To mix up or distort to such an extent as to make misleading or incomprehensible: She garbled all the historical facts.
To scramble (a signal or message), as by erroneous encoding or faulty transmission.
Archaic To sort out; cull.

noun

The act or an instance of garbling.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English garbelen, to inspect and remove refuse from spices

Origin: , from Anglo-Norman garbeler, to sift,

Origin: and from Medieval Latin garbellāre

Origin: , both from Arabic ġarbala, to select

Origin: , from ġirbāl, sieve

Origin: , from Late Latin crībellum

Origin: , diminutive of Latin crībrum; see krei- in Indo-European roots

Related Forms: