babbling
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Related to babbling: babbling brook, babbling stage
bab·ble
(băb′əl)v. bab·bled, bab·bling, bab·bles
v.intr.
1. To utter a meaningless confusion of words or sounds: Babies babble before they can talk.
2. To talk foolishly or idly; chatter: "As I babbled on ... I did not notice that my parents, in the front seat, had fallen completely silent" (Oliver Sacks).
3. To make a continuous low, murmuring sound, as flowing water.
v.tr.
1. To utter rapidly and indistinctly: "Toward the end he babbled old stories, randomly cobbled together" (Julia Whitty).
2. To blurt out impulsively; disclose without careful consideration.
n.
1. Inarticulate or meaningless talk or sounds.
2. Idle or foolish talk; chatter.
3. A continuous low, murmuring sound, as of flowing water.
[Middle English babelen.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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babbling
adjectiveThe American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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