jabber
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L322767 on Wikidata ↗verb
- to talk rapidly and indistinctly
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈd͡ʒæbə(ɹ)/
noun
Etymology: Etymology tree English jab Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzijos Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English jabber From jab + -er.
- One who or that which jabs.
“Have the boys box, one jabbing and the other practicing the methods of boxing a jabber.”
- One who administers a hypodermic injection.
“Like Claire, these “secret jabbers” are keeping it private even from their closest family and friends.”
- A kind of hand-operated corn planter.
“The jabber was the most popular hand-operated corn planter ever devised. […] Inset shows jaws closed for jabbing (left) and open for depositing kernels (right).”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English jaberen, javeren, chaveren (“to chatter, babble”), dissimilated forms of jablen, chavelen (“to jabber”), from Middle English chavel ("jaw"; > modern English jowl). Equivalent to jowl + -er (iterative suffix).
- To talk rapidly, indistinctly, or unintelligibly; to utter gibberish or nonsense.
“1829, James Hogg, The Shepherd’s Calendar, New York: A.T. Goodrich, Volume I, Chapter 9, “Mary Burnet,” p. 184, Allanson made some sound in his throat, as if attempting to speak, but his tongue refused its office, and he only jabbered.”
““What are you jabbering about, shipmate?” said I.”
- To utter rapidly or indistinctly; to gabble.
“She had Lord James' collar in one big fist and she pounded the table with the other and talked a blue streak. Nobody could make out plain what she said, for she was mainly jabbering Swede lingo, but there was English enough, of a kind, to give us some idee.”
“He wept very little, but when he wept he howled aloud, and jabbered wild abuse, threats and recriminations through the wet torrent of his howling.”