I. ˈgabəl verb
( gabbled ; gabbled ; gabbling -b(ə)liŋ ; gabbles )
Etymology: probably of imitative origin
intransitive verb
1. : to talk fast, idly, foolishly, or without meaning : jabber , chatter
with a mighty throat clearing, he would gabble through his prayer — Ernest Beaglehole
he loves to gabble with housewives at church suppers — Andrew Hamilton
spent his time gabbling in bars
the clerk had gabbled about a fee due
saying nothing comprehensible, just babbling and gabbling, half unconsciously — Arnold Bennett
2. : to utter inarticulate sounds (as of a chicken) rapidly
a skein of duck came across, gabbling softly to themselves in the high air — Naomi Mitchison
transitive verb
: to say with incoherent rapidity : babble
our excitement exploded and we gabbled the story over and over — Santha Rama Rau
II. noun
( -s )
1. : loud or rapid talk with little or no meaning : nonsense talk
subjected to gabble about fifteenth-century politics — John McCarten
2. : meaningless sounds rapidly uttered (as by chickens) or given out (as by a stream running over rocks)
discriminating between music and gabble — R.L.Ives
listening to the avid gabble of water running from a gargoyle at the corner of the schoolhouse — Eve Langley