Pronunciations (2)
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/ˈbæb.(ə)l/
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ˈbæb.l̩
Verb
To utter words indistinctly or unintelligibly; to utter inarticulate sounds
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
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The men were babbling, so we couldn't make sense of anything.
To talk incoherently; to utter meaningless words.
Usage- Intransitive
To talk too much; to chatter; to prattle.
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
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She babbled on for hours about the importance of some new gadget.
Radical rather than rhetorical, babble like an oracle
To make a continuous murmuring noise, like shallow water running over stones.
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
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Hounds are said to babble, or to be babbling, when they are too noisy after having found a good scent.
In every babbling brook he finds a friend.
To utter in an indistinct or incoherent way; to repeat words or sounds in a childish way without understanding.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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More examples (1)
All this vvhile John had conn'd over ſuch a Catalogue of hard VVords, as vvere enough to conjure up the Devil; theſe he uſed to babble indifferently in all Companies, eſpecially at Coffee-houſes; ſo that his Neighbour Tradeſmen began to ſhun his Company as a Man that vvas crack'd.
To reveal; to give away (a secret).
Usage- Transitive
Noun
Idle talk; senseless prattle.
Usage- Uncountable
- usually
- Examples
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This is mere moral babble.
More examples (1)
Assassin's Creed gets described as "more than a game" and "a platform for meaningful exploration and reflection wrapped in the excitement of unforgettable gameplay"—which is executive babble, let's be honest.
Inarticulate speech; constant or confused murmur.
Usage- Uncountable
- usually
- Examples
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[M]an has an instinctive tendency to speak, as we see in the babble of our young children; whilst no child has an instinctive tendency to brew, bake, or write.
A sound like that of water gently flowing around obstructions.
Usage- Uncountable
- usually
- Examples
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[T]he babble of the stream / Fell, and without the steady glare / Shrank the sick olive sere and small.
Noun
gibberish resembling the sounds of a baby
Verb
utter meaningless sounds, like a baby, or utter in an incoherent way
- Examples
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The old man is only babbling — don't pay attention
to talk foolishly
- Broader terms
- Examples
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The two women babbled and crooned at the baby
flow in an irregular current with a bubbling noise
- Examples
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babbling brooks
divulge confidential information or secrets
- Examples
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Be careful — his secretary talks