mumblemum‧ble /ˈmʌmbəl/ ●●○ verb [intransitive, transitive] 
Word Origin Examples
He bumped into someone and mumbled an apology. Stop mumbling!mumble to yourself A woman on the corner was mumbling to herself.► see thesaurus at say—mumble noun [countable]
Word OriginWORD ORIGINmumble
Verb TableOrigin:
1300-1400 From the soundVERB TABLE
mumble
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | mumble |
| he, she, it | mumbles | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | mumbled |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have mumbled |
| he, she, it | has mumbled | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had mumbled |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will mumble |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have mumbled |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am mumbling |
| he, she, it | is mumbling | |
| you, we, they | are mumbling | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was mumbling |
| you, we, they | were mumbling | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been mumbling |
| he, she, it | has been mumbling | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been mumbling |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be mumbling |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been mumbling |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- All I could do was mumble that I regretted I hadn't taken my degree.
- An old man sat on the curb, mumbling and laughing to himself.
- Don't mumble -- I can't hear what you're saying.
- He mumbled a few words and lost consciousness.
- He mumbled something I didn't hear.
- He looked embarrassed, and mumbled something about being sorry.
- Kaye could only mumble an apology.
- Stop mumbling!
- Across the room the old woman stirred and mumbled.
- Again, Robbie complied, mumbling a bit under his breath as he moved the octopus over to the doll.
- He mumbled some apology and sat next to the priest.
- He entertained himself for long stretches with trucks and cars, mumbling to himself as he crashed them together.
- He kept to his seat and giggled, mumbled, fiddled.
- Laverne shakes his head mumbling away his worries.
- She mumbled something and Dove asked her to speak up.
- That smell of oil and candles and that light from a distant window and him on his knees, mumbling.
THESAURUSdifferent ways of saying something► whisper
Collocations to say something very quietly, using your breath rather than your full voice: · ‘Don’t wake the baby,’ Jenny whispered.
► mumble to say something quietly without pronouncing the words clearly: · He mumbled his thanks.
► mutter to say something quietly, especially when you are annoyed but do not want someone to hear you complaining: · ‘This is ridiculous,’ he muttered under his breath.· She muttered something about having to go home early.
► murmur to say something in a soft slow gentle voice: · She stroked his hair and murmured, ‘Don’t worry. You’ll be all right.’
► growl to say something in a low angry voice: · ‘As I was saying,’ Lewis growled, ‘it needs to be finished today.’
► snarl to say something in a nasty angry way: · ‘Get out of my way!’ he snarled.
► exclaim to say something suddenly and loudly: · ‘How beautiful!’ she exclaimed.
► blurt out to suddenly say something without thinking, especially something embarrassing or secret: · It was partly nervousness that had made him blurt out the question.
► stammer/stutter to speak with a lot of pauses and repeated sounds, because you have a speech problem, or because you are nervous or excited: · ‘I’ll, I’ll only be a m-moment,’ he stammered.
Longman Language Activatorto say something quietly or unclearly► whisper to say something very quietly, using your breath rather than your voice: · "Don't wake the baby,'' whispered Jemima.· You don't have to whisper - there's no one around.whisper something in somebody's ear: · Fran leant over and whispered something in her sister's ear.
► mutter to say something quietly, especially when you are annoyed but do not want someone to hear you complaining: · "Why do I have to do all the work?'' she muttered.· Grant went out, muttering something about having to see a client.mutter to yourself: · He was always muttering to himself about all the experiments he had to do that week.
► mumble to say something quietly without pronouncing the words clearly, so that it is difficult to understand: · He mumbled something I didn't hear.mumble that: · All I could do was mumble that I regretted I hadn't taken my degree.mumble a reply/an apology/your thanks etc: · Kaye could only mumble an apology.
► murmur to say something in a soft low voice, that is difficult to hear clearly: · He began stroking her hair and gently murmuring her name.· The child murmured something in its sleep.· She heard the priest murmuring a prayer at the front of the church.
► say something under your breath to say something extremely quietly, especially a criticism or something rude, so that no one will hear what you are saying: · "Stupid idiot,'' he said under his breath as the old man walked away.
► grunt to say a few words in a low rough voice, especially when you are not really interested in what someone is saying to you: · "What about a stripy wallpaper for this room?'' "I dunno,'' he grunted.· She grunted something I didn't catch.
to speak unclearly► stammer/stutter to speak with difficulty because you cannot stop yourself repeating the first sound in some words, usually several times: · Savio was a shy man who stuttered when he was nervous.· "I d-d-don't know,'' he stammered.· Most kids who stammer eventually grow out of it.
► mumble to speak quietly and not at all clearly, so that it is difficult for people to understand you: · Don't mumble -- I can't hear what you're saying.· An old man sat on the curb, mumbling and laughing to himself.mumble about: · He looked embarrassed, and mumbled something about being sorry.
► slur to speak unclearly, without separating your words or sounds correctly, usually because you are tired or have been drinking alcohol: · After just a couple of drinks, she starts to slur.slur your words: · When Lionel is tired he tends to slur his words.
► lisp to speak unclearly because you have difficulty pronouncing "s' sounds: · As a child she used to lisp.· "What time ith it?'' he lisped.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES► mumble/mutter an apology
to say something too quietly or not clearly enough, so that other people cannot understand you → mutter: (=say it quietly, especially because you are embarrassed)· He bumped into me and mumbled an apology.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN► word· He mumbled a couple of words that I couldn't quite hear.· She was mumbling words, the cool words she had rehearsed to herself were lost.· I follow, mumbling the words-if they are words-with him.
He bumped into someone and mumbled an apology. Stop mumbling!mumble to yourself A woman on the corner was mumbling to herself.► see thesaurus at say—mumble noun [countable]