Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definitions: Babbling |
BabblingAdjective1. Talking idly or incoherently; "blithering (or blathering) idiot"; "jabbering children"; "gabbling housewives"; "a babbling hospital inmate". 2. Continuous low murmuring sound; as especially of water: "a babbling brook". 3. Making speech sounds; "a babbling baby". Noun1. Gibberish resembling the sounds of a baby. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "babbling" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references) |
Synonyms: BabblingSynonyms: blathering (adj), blithering (adj), gabbling (adj), jabbering (adj), babble (n), lallation (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Imbecility Folly | Fatuous, idiotic, imbecile, driveling; blatant, babbling; vacant; sottish; bewildered;. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Babbling |
| English words defined with "babbling": Babbling thrush, Babillard, blathering, blithering ♦ gabbling ♦ jabbering ♦ Long-tongued ♦ Outbabble ♦ Stultiloquence, Stultiloquent, Stultiloquy. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "babbling": babbling error ♦ KINDERGARTEN ♦ Language Development. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "babbling": Blatteration ♦ Outbabble. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | 'Kept babbling on about his mission. (Star Wars; writing credit: George Lucas) Dad, you're babbling. (The Simpsons; writing credit: Artur Brauner; Paul Hengge) He was babbling about a bright light (It; writing credit: Stephen King; Lawrence D. Cohen) You're babbling! (Maverick; writing credit: William Goldman) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Babbling Book (1932) Babbling Tongues (1917) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Play | Caption | Play | Caption |
 | Stream; woods; forest; wildlife; water; river; gurgle; babbling; brook. | | Stream; woods; forest; wildlife; water; river; gurgle; babbling; brook; bird; . |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | A whining, babbling voice came from under the canvas. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Makes babbling sounds, even when alone. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Babbling" is generally used as a lexical verb (-ing form) -- approximately 88.24% of the time. "Babbling" is used about 51 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (-ing form) | 88.24% | 45 | 50,900 |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 5.88% | 3 | 202,518 |
| Noun (proper) | 3.92% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Noun (singular) | 1.96% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 51 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "babbling": babbling error ♦ Babbling thrush ♦ babbling warbler. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
babbling brook | 18 |
babbling brook inn | 10 |
babbling | 6 |
babbling bride | 4 |
babbling baby | 3 |
babbling boo | 3 |
babbling brook cruz inn santa | 3 |
babbling carcass corner in into man quivering toughest | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "babbling"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Arabic | ثرثار (babbler, big-mouthed, braggart, bragging, chatterbox, garrulous, gossipy, loquacious, loudmouth, loudmouthed, prattler, talkative, talking). (various references) | |
Chinese | " 叨 (Babbled, Nagged, Nagging). (various references) | |
Danish | pludren (labelling). (various references) | |
Finnish | jaaritus, hölläsuinen. (various references) | |
French | babiller (babble), babillage (babble), jaser (babble), caqueter. (various references) | |
German | stammelnd (faltering, stammering), schwafelnd. (various references) | |
Italian | balbettare (babble, falter, stammer, stutter), emettere lallazioni, cicalare (jabber, yak), chiacchierio (chatter). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 片言交じり . (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | かた"とまじり. (various references) | |
Korean | 놀소리. (various references) | |
Manx | thassaneagh (buzzing, murmurer, murmuring), thassane (buzz, buzz of crowd, buzzing, hiss, hum, murmuring, twitter, twittering), cronnaneagh (buzzing), claggeraght (carillon, clack), chengleyrys (argument, jabber, talkativeness, wrangle), bloberagh, blaaderys (blarney, smooth talk), blaaderagh (gushing). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | abblingbay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | balbucio (attempt, babble, babblement, try), balbuciante (mummer, mutton, stammering, stuttering), balbuciação (babble, lisp, mumble, mumbling, mutter, muttering, prattle, stammer, stammering, stutter, stuttering). (various references) | |
Romanian | murmur (babble, Bicker, brawl, chatter, garrulity, hum, moan, mumbling, murmur, mutter, prattle, rhubarb, ripple, rustle, rustling, warble). (various references) | |
Scottish | pliaram. (various references) | |
Spanish | balbuceo (babble, babblement, lisp, mumble, prattle, splutter, stammer), balbuceando, parloteo (babble, cackle, chatter, gabble, gossip, prate, prattle, small talk, yap), murmullo (babble, bruit, buzz, hum, murmur, murmuring, mutter, muttering, noise, purl, ripple, sound), farfulla (babble, jabber, mutter, splutter, sputter), cháchara (babble, chatter, chitchat, gab, jaw, prattle, talk, yak). (various references) | |
Turkish | gevezelik (cackle, chattering, chinwag, chitchat, clack, comment, gab, gabble, garrulity, gossip, indiscretion, jaw, jive, loquaciousness, loquacity, mouthiness, prate, prattle, rattle, talkativeness, talky-talk, tattle, volubility, windiness, yap). (various references) | |
Ukranian | язикатий (newsy, sharp tongued), лепетливий, базікання (babble, blab, blather, blether, bunkum, burble, cackle, chatter, chit chat, clatter, flubdub, gabble, gossip, jabber, piffle, prate, spiel, talk, tattle, tittle tattle, tootle, twaddle, twitter, waffle, wind, yak-yak), балакучий (chatty, conversable, conversational, flippant, garrulous, gossipy, leaky, loquacious, mouthy, narrative, newsy, talkative, voluble, well spoken, windy), дзюрчання (babble, bickering, chatter, murmuring, purl, ripple), дзюркотливий (garrulous, loquacious, murmurous). (various references) | |
Welsh | baldorddus. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | stultiloquium. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "babbling": babblings. (additional references) | |
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"Babbling" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Babbidge, bibbling, bubblingly. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "babbling" (pronounced ba"buling or ba"bling) |
| 6 | -a" b u l i ng | dabbling. |
| 5 | -b u l i ng | ambling, assembling, bubbling, bumbling, crumbling, disabling, doubling, dribbling, enabling, fumbling, gambling, gobbling, grumbling, hobbling, humbling, labeling, mislabeling, mumbling, nibbling, quibbling, redoubling, resembling, rumbling, scrambling, scribbling, squabbling, stumbling, tabling, trembling, troubling, tumbling, warbling, wobbling. |
| 4 | -u l i ng | backpedaling, baffling, barreling, battling, belittling, bicycling, boggling, bottling, bristling, bugling, bundling, bungling, bustling, cackling, canceling, cancelling, channeling, chortling, circling, coddling, commingling, counseling, cradling, crippling, cycling, dangling, dazzling, Dialing, disgruntling, dismantling, drizzling, dwindling, embezzling, empaneling, encircling, entitling, equaling, fizzling, fondling, funneling, giggling, groveling, grueling, gurgling, guzzling, haggling, hassling, huddling, hurdling, hustling, idling, imperiling, initialing, intermingling, jiggling, jostling, juggling, leveling, mangling, marshaling, meddling, middling, mingling, modeling, mottling, muddling, muscling, paddling, paneling, parceling, pedaling, peddling, piddling, pummeling, puzzling, quadrupling, quarreling, raveling, recycling, refueling, remodeling, reshuffling, reveling, rippling, rivaling, ruffling, saddling, scuttling, settling, shriveling, shuttling, signaling, signalling, singling, sizzling, spiraling, spiralling, stapling, stenciling, strangling, struggling, swiveling, throttling, tingling, tinkling, toppling, totaling, totalling, toweling, traveling, travelling, tripling, tunneling, twinkling, unraveling, unsettling, waggling, wiggling, wrangling, wrinkling, yodeling. |
| 3 | -l i ng | ailing, angling, annealing, appalling, appealing, assailing, bailing, baling, balling, bankrolling, beguiling, Belling, billing, blackmailing, boiling, Bolling, bowling, brawling, broiling, buckling, burgling, burling, cajoling, calling, Carling, ceiling, chilling, chronicling, chuckling, compelling, compiling, concealing, consoling, controlling, cooling, corralling, countervailing, coupling, cowling, crackling, crawling, cuddling, culling, curling, curtailing, darling, dawdling, dealing, decoupling, derailing, detailing, dispelling, dissembling, distilling, doling, drilling, drooling, duckling, dueling, dulling, dumpling, dwelling, earthling, emailing, enrolling, entailing, entangling, excelling, expelling, extolling, failing, falling, feeling, felling, fiddling, filing, filling, flailing, fledgling, foaling, foiling, fooling, forestalling, foretelling, fouling, foundling, freewheeling, fueling, fuelling, fulfilling, galling, grappling, Grayling, grilling, groundling, growling, hailing, handling, hauling, healing, heckling, helling, hilling, holing, howling, hurling, hurtling, inhaling, inkling, installing, instilling, jailing, Keeling, killing, kindling, kneeling, lolling, Lulling, mailing, Marling, Melling, milling, mishandling, misspelling, mothballing, mulling, nailing, needling, nestling, nonruling, oiling, outselling, overbilling, overhauling, overkilling, overruling, overselling, panhandling, paralleling, parboiling, paroling, patrolling, pearling, peeling, pickling, piling, Pilling, Pindling, poling, polling, pooling, prevailing, profiling, propelling, prowling, pulling, quelling, quilling, Quisling, railing, rambling, rankling, rappelling, rattling, rebelling, recalling, reconciling, reeling, regaling, rekindling, repealing, repelling, rescheduling, reselling, retailing, retelling, retooling, revealing, ridiculing, Riesling, rifling, rilling, roiling, rolling, rototilling, ruling, rustling, sailing, sampling, Sandling, sapling, scaling, scheduling, Schilling, schooling, scowling, sealing, seedling, Seeling, selling, shelling, shilling, shoveling, shuffling, sibling, skilling, smelling, smiling, smuggling, snarling, Snelling, snowballing, sparkling, Sparling, spelling, spilling, spoiling, sprawling, sprinkling, squealing, stalling, starling, startling, stealing, sterling, stifling, stockpiling, stonewalling, storytelling, straddling, strickling, stripling, strolling, styling, suckling, surveilling, swashbuckling, swelling, swilling, swindling, swirling, tackling, tailing, tangling, telling, thrilling, Tilling, toddling, toggling, toiling, tolling, tooling, trailing, trampling, trickling, trifling, trilling, trolling, twiddling, twirling, unappealing, unavailing, unbundling, underling, underselling, unfailing, unfeeling, unfurling, unsmiling, untangling, unveiling, unwilling, veiling, waffling, wailing, walling, weakling, welling, whaling, wheeling, whirling, whistling, whittling, wholesaling, wiling, willing, wrestling, yearling, yelling. |
| 4 | -b l i ng | dissembling, rambling, sibling. |
| 3 | -l i ng | ailing, ambling, angling, annealing, appalling, appealing, assailing, assembling, backpedaling, baffling, bailing, baling, balling, bankrolling, barreling, battling, beguiling, belittling, Belling, bicycling, billing, blackmailing, boggling, boiling, Bolling, bottling, bowling, brawling, bristling, broiling, bubbling, buckling, bugling, bumbling, bundling, bungling, burgling, burling, bustling, cackling, cajoling, calling, canceling, cancelling, Carling, ceiling, channeling, chilling, chortling, chronicling, chuckling, circling, coddling, commingling, compelling, compiling, concealing, consoling, controlling, cooling, corralling, counseling, countervailing, coupling, cowling, crackling, cradling, crawling, crippling, crumbling, cuddling, culling, curling, curtailing, cycling, dabbling, dangling, darling, dawdling, dazzling, dealing, decoupling, derailing, detailing, Dialing, disabling, disgruntling, dismantling, dispelling, distilling, doling, doubling, dribbling, drilling, drizzling, drooling, duckling, dueling, dulling, dumpling, dwelling, dwindling, earthling, emailing, embezzling, empaneling, enabling, encircling, enrolling, entailing, entangling, entitling, equaling, excelling, expelling, extolling, failing, falling, feeling, felling, fiddling, filing, filling, fizzling, flailing, fledgling, foaling, foiling, fondling, fooling, forestalling, foretelling, fouling, foundling, freewheeling, fueling, fuelling, fulfilling, fumbling, funneling, galling, gambling, giggling, gobbling, grappling, Grayling, grilling, groundling, groveling, growling, grueling, grumbling, gurgling, guzzling, haggling, hailing, handling, hassling, hauling, healing, heckling, helling, hilling, hobbling, holing, howling, huddling, humbling, hurdling, hurling, hurtling, hustling, idling, imperiling, inhaling, initialing, inkling, installing, instilling, intermingling, jailing, jiggling, jostling, juggling, Keeling, killing, kindling, kneeling, labeling, leveling, lolling, Lulling, mailing, mangling, Marling, marshaling, meddling, Melling, middling, milling, mingling, mishandling, mislabeling, misspelling, modeling, mothballing, mottling, muddling, mulling, mumbling, muscling, nailing, needling, nestling, nibbling, nonruling, oiling, outselling, overbilling, overhauling, overkilling, overruling, overselling, paddling, paneling, panhandling, paralleling, parboiling, parceling, paroling, patrolling, pearling, pedaling, peddling, peeling, pickling, piddling, piling, Pilling, Pindling, poling, polling, pooling, prevailing, profiling, propelling, prowling, pulling, pummeling, puzzling, quadrupling, quarreling, quelling, quibbling, quilling, Quisling, railing, rankling, rappelling, rattling, raveling, rebelling, recalling, reconciling, recycling, redoubling, reeling, refueling, regaling, rekindling, remodeling, repealing, repelling, rescheduling, reselling, resembling, reshuffling, retailing, retelling, retooling, revealing, reveling, ridiculing, Riesling, rifling, rilling, rippling, rivaling, roiling, rolling, rototilling, ruffling, ruling, rumbling, rustling, saddling, sailing, sampling, Sandling, sapling, scaling, scheduling, Schilling, schooling, scowling, scrambling, scribbling, scuttling, sealing, seedling, Seeling, selling, settling, shelling, shilling, shoveling, shriveling, shuffling, shuttling, signaling, signalling, singling, sizzling, skilling, smelling, smiling, smuggling, snarling, Snelling, snowballing, sparkling, Sparling, spelling, spilling, spiraling, spiralling, spoiling, sprawling, sprinkling, squabbling, squealing, stalling, stapling, starling, startling, stealing, stenciling, sterling, stifling, stockpiling, stonewalling, storytelling, straddling, strangling, strickling, stripling, strolling, struggling, stumbling, styling, suckling, surveilling, swashbuckling, swelling, swilling, swindling, swirling, swiveling, tabling, tackling, tailing, tangling, telling, thrilling, throttling, Tilling, tingling, tinkling, toddling, toggling, toiling, tolling, tooling, toppling, totaling, totalling, toweling, trailing, trampling, traveling, travelling, trembling, trickling, trifling, trilling, tripling, trolling, troubling, tumbling, tunneling, twiddling, twinkling, twirling, unappealing, unavailing, unbundling, underling, underselling, unfailing, unfeeling, unfurling, unraveling, unsettling, unsmiling, untangling, unveiling, unwilling, veiling, waffling, waggling, wailing, walling, warbling, weakling, welling, whaling, wheeling, whirling, whistling, whittling, wholesaling, wiggling, wiling, willing, wobbling, wrangling, wrestling, wrinkling, yearling, yelling, yodeling. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: blabbing. | |
| Words within the letters "a-b-b-b-g-i-l-n" | |
-2 letters: baling. | |
-3 letters: algin, align, binal, blain, liang, ligan, linga. | |
-4 letters: agin, anil, bail, bang, bani, bibb, blab, blin, gain, glia, glib, lain, lang, ling, nail. | |
-5 letters: ail, ain, alb, ani, bag, bal, ban, bib, big, bin, gab, gal, gan, gib, gin, lab, lag, lib, lin, nab, nag, nib, nil. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-b-b-b-g-i-l-n" | |
+1 letter: babblings, brabbling. | |
+2 letters: bedabbling, blabbering. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)42 61 62 62 6C 69 6E 67 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)-... .- -... -... .-.. .. -. --. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01000010 01100001 01100010 01100010 01101100 01101001 01101110 01100111 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)B a b b l i n g |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0042 0061 0062 0062 006C 0069 006E 0067 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)3667686878758073 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Sounds 8. Quotations: Fiction | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Usage Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Translations: Ancient 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Orthography 19. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
