burble
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈbɝ.bl̩/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈbɜː.bl̩/
- Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)bəl
Audio (UK): (file)
Etymology 1
From Middle English burblen (“to bubble”), imitative.
Noun
burble (plural burbles)
- A bubbling, gurgling sound, as of a creek.
- 1988, Bruce Chatwin, Utz, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN; republished London: Vintage Books, 2005, →ISBN, page 50:
- Marta's gander was a magnificent snow-white bird: the object of terror to foxes, children and dogs. She had reared him as a gosling; and whenever he approached, he would let fly a low contented burble and sidle his neck around her thighs.
- A gush of rapid speech.
- 2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 3, in The Line of Beauty […], 1st US edition, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:
- He could hear the music in the distance, and the burble and laughter from the library, and a high ringing in his own ears.
- The turbulent boundary layer about a moving streamlined body.
Translations
Verb
burble (third-person singular simple present burbles, present participle burbling, simple past and past participle burbled)
- (intransitive) To bubble; to gurgle.
- To babble; to speak in an excited rush.
- She burbled on, as if I cared to listen.
- 1980 August 16, Andrea Loewenstein, “Random Lust”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 5, page 19:
- "No, Jo, it wasn't one bit crowded, there was room enought [sic] for everyone," she burbled on. "And we were there, and all these other wymeen too, of all shapes, sizes, and colors..."
- 1995 December 21, Tony Chamberlain, “We all love snow games: Some take time to play; others seize chance to panic”, in The Boston Globe, volume 248, number 174, Boston, Mass., page 91:
- “No way this one’s going to miss us this time,” burbles one bebooted doomsdayer to another.
Derived terms
Translations
to bubble, to gurgle
speak in an incoherent rush
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Etymology 2
Scottish; probably connected Old French barbouiller (“to confound”).
Noun
burble
- Trouble; disorder.
Verb
burble (third-person singular simple present burbles, present participle burbling, simple past and past participle burbled)
- (transitive) To trouble or confuse.
References
- (etymology 1) American Heritage Dictionary.
Anagrams
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