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# babbling

verb (babble, babbles, babbled, babbling — -ing form); adjective (babbling); noun (babbling — uncountable)

«babbling» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Babbling is talking quickly in a silly, excited or confusing way, so it is hard to understand or not very sensible. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/babbling/#m1)
2. Babbling is the sound babies make — «ba-ba-ba, da-da» — before they can say real words. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/babbling/#m2)
3. A babbling brook or stream makes a soft, bubbling, continuous sound as water runs over stones. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/babbling/#m3)

### In the lessons

In science lessons on growing up, babbling is a stage of learning to talk, at about 6–9 months. In stories, «a babbling brook» is a peaceful countryside image, and a babbling character is nervous or over-excited. Everyday: «Stop babbling and tell me what happened!»

### Examples

- The baby was babbling happily in her cot. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/babbling/#x1)
- He was so nervous he started babbling. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/babbling/#x2)
- We sat beside a babbling brook. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/babbling/#x3)
- Stop babbling and tell me slowly. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/babbling/#x4)
- Babbling is how babies practise sounds. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/babbling/#x5)
- The excited children were babbling about the trip. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/babbling/#x6)
- I could hear the stream babbling under the bridge. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/babbling/#x7)

### Note

From «babble» (drop the e: babbling). Usually a little rude about grown-ups or older children, but kind about babies and streams. Similar: chatter, gabble, prattle.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «babbling» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/babbling/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«babbling» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/babbling.html) on Mova free.