verb (used without object), gabbed, gab·bing.
- to talk or chat idly; chatter.
noun
- idle talk; chatter.
verb gabs, gabbing or gabbed
- (intr) to talk excessively or idly, esp about trivial matters; gossip; chatter
noun
- idle or trivial talk
- gift of the gab ability to speak effortlessly, glibly, or persuasively
noun
- a hook or open notch in a rod or lever that drops over the spindle of a valve to form a temporary connection for operating the valve
- a pointed tool used in masonry
abbreviation for
- Gabon (international car registration)
“to reproach,” c.1200, via Scottish and northern England dialect, from a Scandinavian source, e.g. Old Norse gabba “to mock,” or from Old French gabber “mock, boast,” both perhaps ultimately imitative. Related: Gabbed; gabbing. Meaning “to talk much” is from 1786, probably a back-formation from gabble.
early 14c., “mockery,” from Old French gab, from gaber (see gab (v.)); meaning “idle talk” is from 1737. Gift of the gab “talent for speaking” is from 1680s.
see gift of gab.