garble

1 of 2

verb

gar·​ble ˈgär-bəl How to pronounce garble (audio)
garbled; garbling ˈgär-b(ə-)liŋ How to pronounce garble (audio)
Synonyms of garblenext

transitive verb

1
a
: to so alter or distort as to create a wrong impression or change the meaning
garble a story
b
: to introduce textual error into (a message) by inaccurate encipherment, transmission, or decipherment
2
: to sift impurities from
3
archaic : cull sense 1
garbler
ˈgär-b(ə-)lər How to pronounce garble (audio)
noun

garble

2 of 2

noun

1
: an act or an instance of garbling
2
: the impurities removed from spices in sifting

Did you know?

Garble comes from Anglo-French garbeler, meaning "to remove impurities or refuse from (spices)." The English word refers to distortion of speech or writing that makes its meaning unclear (impure).

Synonyms

Verb

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Examples of garble in a Sentence

Verb the candidate complained that his views had been deliberately garbled by his opponent garbled spices are less likely to contaminate a recipe
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Verb
The idea may be, to garble Anna Karenina in a botlike way, that all plagiarisms are alike — but that obfuscates the idiosyncrasies of art and, indeed, of technology. —Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 30 Sep. 2024 Data-poisoning tools like Nightshade, which can garble some AI outputs, may be a more effective solution for concerned artists. —Kate Irwin, PCMAG, 8 Oct. 2024
Noun
Voters can expect to hear a lot from Republicans about her many early gaffes and garble. —Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 21 July 2024 This is cumbersome, which is why some Web3 companies have carved out a small but profitable niche to allow users to translate their wallet address from alphanumeric garble to a username, or from 0xAA2B52A6DF7DBFD07640BDA2B373D37BACD81DF5 to simple.nft. —Ben Weiss, Fortune Crypto, 17 July 2023 See all Example Sentences for garble 

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English garbelen "to remove impurites or refuse from (spices)," borrowed from Anglo-French garbeler, probably borrowed—directly or from Italian *garbellare (attested in Medieval Latin of Verona as garbellāre in 1319)—from Arabic gharbala "to sift, screen," derivative of ghirbāl "sieve," borrowed from Late Latin crībellum, diminutive of Latin crībrum "sieve" — more at riddle entry 3

Note: Presumably a word passed from Arabic to Mediterranean Europe through trade in Eastern spices. The earliest evidence of the Romance/Latin etymon is in a statute of the city of Marseille (recording both garbellare and garbellum "sieve, riddle") from 1269 (though there is apparently no corresponding word in Old Occitan). The French form garbalé (past participle of the verb) is attested in a document from Bruges in Flanders dated to 1304. Joan Coromines (Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico) believes the word was first adopted from Arabic in Catalonia, partly on the basis of the half-Catalan phrase grana assaonada "ripened grains [?]" used in the above-mentioned Marseille statute.

Noun

derivative of garble entry 1; in sense 2 perhaps in part borrowed from Italian garbello, noun derivative of garbellare

First Known Use

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Noun

1503, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of garble was in the 15th century

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Dictionary Entries Near garble

garbill

garble

garbleable

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Garble.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/garble. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

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Kids Definition

garble

verb
gar·​ble
ˈgär-bəl
garbled; garbling
-b(ə-)liŋ
: to change or twist the meaning or sound of
garbler
-b(ə-)lər
noun

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