transitive verb garbled -·bled, garbling -·bling

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

Etymology: 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