gabble

/ˈgæbəl/

Other forms: gabbling; gabbled; gabbles

When you gabble, you talk so fast that you can barely be understood. A nervous public speaker might gabble for several minutes before she's able to get her point across.

If you're gossiping about a neighbor and suddenly realize he's standing behind you, you might gabble for a while from the sheer awkwardness of the situation. Your grandmother might declare that she doesn't understand the music you like, saying, "They don't sing — they just gabble!" Gabble is a noun, too, meaning the sound itself: "See? It's all just gabble!" Gabble has a Dutch root, gabbelen, which is imitative — it sounds just like what it means.

Definitions of gabble

1. verb

   speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantly
   synonyms: blab, blabber, chatter, clack, gibber, maunder, palaver, piffle, prate, prattle, tattle, tittle-tattle, twaddle, yammer

   types:

   babble, blather, blether, blither, smatter

   talk foolishly

   type of:

   mouth, speak, talk, utter, verbalise, verbalize

   express in speech
2. noun

   rapid and indistinct speech
   synonyms: jabber, jabbering

   type of:

   gibber, gibberish

   unintelligible talking