1566 J. Fowler tr. P. Frarinus Oration against Vnlawfull Insurrections Protestantes sig. Iv Gabastone..rode on his horse into the quiere..and there gabbled and cried [L. clamaret] to his mates in his barbarouse Gascoigne Frenche, Pilla tout, Pilla tout, that is, spoile all, spoile all.

1631 T. Dekker Match mee in London iii. 42 If I should brag Gentility, I'de gabble Welch.

?a1705 tr. M. Le Faucheur Ess. Action of Orator vi. 85 A School-boy, that, to shew you how perfect he has conn'd his Lesson, gabbles it off as fast as his Tongue can go.

1758 Monthly Rev. 19 308 Gabbling infidelity and laughing at the religion of his country.

1797 T. J. Mathias Pursuits of Lit.: Pt. IV (ed. 7) 382 He..like Macpherson, glibly gabbles Erse.

1829 W. Scott Jrnl. 13 July (1946) 95 Gabbling eternally much that I did, & more that I did not, understand.

1851 D. Jerrold St. Giles & St. James (new ed.) xxii, in Writings I. 222 Tangle rolled upon his side, gabbling something in his sleep.

1970 C. Gavin House of War i. 19 What do you two talk about, when you gabble French together? Love? Romance?

1986 L. Lochhead True Confessions (1989) 18 ‘Hiv tae git you roon tae wir new flat in Wilton Street, listen to a few albums, smoke a few joints..’ he gabbled.

2016 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 20 Feb. 1 His eyes were bulging with exhaustion. While he gabbled a brief statement for TV, they seemed to swell and goggle.

1574 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. Epist. St. Paule to Galathians xl. f. 301^v This will easly bee receyued of suche as gabble after that fashion, thinking themselues too haue a good cace.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) ii. iii. 84 Haue you no wit, manners, nor honestie, but to gabble like Tinkers at this time of night? View more context for this quotation

1629 J. Ford Lovers Melancholy ii. 28 Ile keep the old mad man in chat, whilest thou gabblest to the girle.

1663 S. Butler Hudibras: First Pt. i. i. 9 Which made some think, when he did gabble, Th' had heard three Labourers of Babel.

1768 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued I. i. 72 A careless nurse..gabbling among her gossips without attention to her charge.

1810 G. Crabbe Borough vi. 87 And lisps and gabbles if he try to talk.

1849 C. Brontë Shirley I. i. 12 The confusion of tongues which has gabbled me deaf as a post.

1860 F. Nightingale Notes on Nursing (rev. ed.) iv. 79 If there is some matter which must be read to a sick person, do it slowly. People often think that the way to get it over with least fatigue to him is to get it over in least time. They gabble.

1900 C. M. Yonge Mod. Broods xiii. 121 She gabbled away most eloquently to the Maire, almost as fluently as a born Frenchwoman.

1981 J. Lees-Milne Diary 17 July in Deep Romantic Chasm (2003) 159 Impossible to hear what he says, and Diana hardly easier, for she gabbles.

2006 Independent 22 July (Save and Spend section) 6/1 I find myself turning into an imbecile gabbling about how I went to Paris for a day.