Hypertext Webster Gateway: "babbling"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Babble \Bab"ble\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Babbled} (?);p. pr. & vb.
n. {Babbling}.] [Cf.LG. babbeln, D. babbelen, G. bappeln,
bappern, F. babiller, It. babbolare; prob. orig., to keep
saying ba, imitative of a child learning to talk.]
1. To utter words indistinctly or unintelligibly; to utter
inarticulate sounds; as a child babbles.
2. To talk incoherently; to utter unmeaning words.
3. To talk much; to chatter; to prate.
4. To make a continuous murmuring noise, as shallow water
running over stones.
In every babbling he finds a friend. --Wordsworth.
Note: Hounds are said to babble, or to be babbling, when they
are too noisy after having found a good scent.
Syn: To prate; prattle; chatter; gossip.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
babbling
adj 1: talking idly or incoherently; "blithering (or blathering)
idiot"; "jabbering children"; "gabbling housewives";
"a babbling hospital inmate" [syn: {blathering}, {blithering},
{jabbering}, {gabbling}]
2: continuous low murmuring sound; as especially of water: "a
babbling brook"
3: making speech sounds; "a babbling baby"
n : gibberish resembling the sounds of a baby [syn: {babble}, {lallation}]
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