Category:Babble

Bab"ble, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Babbled (p. pr. & vb. n. Babbling.] Etym: [Cf.LG. babbeln, D. babbelen, G. bappeln, bappern, F. babiller, It. babbolare; prob. orig., to keep saying ba, imitative of a child learning to talk.]

1. To utter words indistinctly or unintelligibly; to utter inarticulate sounds; as a child babbles.

2. To talk incoherently; to utter unmeaning words.

3. To talk much; to chatter; to prate.

4. To make a continuous murmuring noise, as shallow water running over stones. In every babbling he finds a friend. Wordsworth.

Note: Hounds are said to babble, or to be babbling, when they are too noisy after having found a good scent.

Syn.

-- To prate; prattle; chatter; gossip.

Bab"ble, v. i.

1. To utter in an indistinct or incoherent way; to repeat,as words, in a childish way without understanding. These [words] he used to babble in all companies. Arbuthnot.

2. To disclose by too free talk, as a secret.

Bab"ble, n.

1. Idle talk; senseless prattle; gabble; twaddle. "This is mere moral babble." Milton.

2. Inarticulate speech; constant or confused murmur. The babble of our young children. Darwin. The babble of the stream. Tennyson.