babble
babble — verb
1. to speak rapidly and at length without making much sense, often because you are
to speak rapidly and at length without making much sense, often because you are excited, nervous, or have had too much to drink.
Zara was so nervous that she babbled about her hobbies for ten minutes.
babble about + noun for excited/nervous talk
Aunt Rosa kept babbling on about her neighbour's new puppy throughout the whole dinner.
babble on about + noun for tedious chatter
After two glasses of wine, Eitan started babbling in a mix of Spanish and English.
The frightened witness babbled something about a man in a red jacket near the bank.
Stop babbling and tell me clearly what happened to the car.
- articulate
to speak clearly and with structure
文法句型
babble on about + noun
babble + direct speech
用法筆記
Often carries a mildly negative tone — the speaker is presented as silly, drunk, or hard to follow. Frequently followed by 'on' or 'about' for prolonged talk on a trivial topic.
常見錯誤
2. (of a small stream or brook) to produce a soft, bubbling sound as the water pass
(of a small stream or brook) to produce a soft, bubbling sound as the water passes over rocks or pebbles.
A clear stream babbled gently over smooth stones at the edge of the meadow.
[stream] + babble over + noun
We could hear a small brook babbling somewhere behind the trees.
intransitive use with -ing form to set a scene
The creek babbled softly through Mrs. Jamal's back garden all summer.
Cold mountain water babbled past the picnic blanket where the children were sleeping.
文法句型
[stream] + babble + over/through + noun
用法筆記
Subject is almost always a small body of moving water (stream, brook, creek). Common in descriptive or literary writing rather than everyday speech. Distinguish from sense 1, which always has a human subject.
常見錯誤
babble — noun
1. a soft, unclear hum of many voices speaking at once, so that no single conversat
a soft, unclear hum of many voices speaking at once, so that no single conversation can be picked out.
A cheerful babble of voices filled the cafeteria as the lunch break began.
a babble of voices — typical full collocation
Noa could barely hear her own thoughts above the babble in the crowded train station.
above the babble — talking over background noise
From the kitchen, Amara heard a babble of guests laughing in the dining room.
The babble of the morning market drifted through the open bedroom window.
- silence
complete absence of sound
文法句型
a babble of + plural noun
the babble of + noun
用法筆記
Often appears as 'a babble of voices' or 'a babble of [people noun]'. Implies the listener cannot make out individual words, only a general blur of sound.
常見錯誤
2. the early speech-like sounds an infant produces, made up of repeated syllables t
the early speech-like sounds an infant produces, made up of repeated syllables that do not yet form real words.
The baby's happy babble filled the living room while her father cooked dinner.
[baby's] + babble — possessive pattern
Dr. Jamal explained that a child's babble usually begins around six months of age.
a child's babble — clinical/parenting context
Eitan recorded her son's first babble on her phone to send to her parents.
The soft babble from the cot told Zara that her daughter was finally awake.
文法句型
[baby's] + babble
the babble of + young child
用法筆記
Refers specifically to pre-linguistic infant sounds (such as 'ba-ba' or 'da-da'). Distinguish from noun sense 1, which is about a crowd of voices, not a single baby.