bab·ble / ˈbabəl/ • v. [intr.] talk rapidly and continuously in a foolish, excited, or incomprehensible way: he would babble on in his gringo Spanish. ∎  [usu. as adj.] (babbling) (of a stream) make the continuous murmuring sound of water flowing over stones: a gently babbling brook. • n. [in sing.] the sound of people talking quickly and in a way that is difficult or impossible to understand: a babble of protest. ∎  foolish, excited, or confused talk: her soft voice stopped his babble. ∎  [usu. in comb.] pretentious jargon from a specified field: to shed light on such transatlantic psycho-babble. ∎  the continuous murmuring sound of water flowing over stones in a stream: the babble of a brook.

babble XIII. prob. — MLG. (Du.) babbelen, if not a native imit. formation; cf. (O)F. babiller, see -LE2.

Babble

barbers collectively —Lipton, 1970