babble

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to divulge confidential information or secrets

   The spy was known to babble a bit.

2. 2
   verb

   to talk foolishly

   The two women babbled and crooned at the baby

3. 3
   verb

   to utter meaningless sounds, like a baby, or utter in an incoherent way

   Please stop babbling and get to the point.

4. 4
   verb

   to flow in an irregular current with a bubbling noise

   The brook babbles pleasantly.

5. 5
   verb

   To utter words indistinctly or unintelligibly; to utter inarticulate sounds

   The men were babbling, so we couldn't make sense of anything.

6. 6
   verb

   To talk too much; to chatter; to prattle.

   She babbled on for hours about the importance of some new gadget.

7. 7
   verb

   To make a continuous murmuring noise, like shallow water running over stones.

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

8. 8
   verb

   To utter in an indistinct or incoherent way; to repeat words or sounds in a childish way without understanding.

   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.

Etymology

From Middle English babelen, from Old English *bæblian, also wæflian (“to talk foolishly”), from Proto-West Germanic *bablōn, *wablōn, variants of *babalōn, from Proto-Germanic *babalōną (“to chatter”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰa-bʰa-, perhaps a reduplication of Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to say”), or a variant of Proto-Indo-European *baba- (“to talk vaguely, mumble”), or a merger of the two, possibly ultimately onomatopoeic/mimicry of infantile sounds (compare babe, baby). Cognate with Saterland Frisian babbelje (“to babble”), West Frisian babbelje (“to babble”), Dutch babbelen (“to bab…