garble

American  

[gahr-buhl] / ˈgɑr bəl /

verb (used with object)

garbled, garbling

1. to confuse unintentionally or ignorantly; jumble.

   to garble instructions.

2. to make unfair or misleading selections from or arrangement of (fact, statements, writings, etc.); distort.

   to garble a quotation.

3. Archaic. to take out the best of.

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noun

1. the act or process of garbling.

2. an instance of garbling; a garbled phrase, literary passage, etc.

garble British  

/ ˈɡɑːbəl /

verb

1. to jumble (a story, quotation, etc), esp unintentionally

2. to distort the meaning of (an account, text, etc), as by making misleading omissions; corrupt

3. rare to select the best part of

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noun

1. 1. the act of garbling

   2. garbled matter

Other Word Forms

• garbleable adjective
• garbler noun
• ungarbled adjective

Etymology

Origin of garble

1400–50; late Middle English garbelen to remove refuse from spices < Old Italian garbellare to sift < Arabic gharbala < Late Latin crībellāre, derivative of crībellum, diminutive of Latin crībrum sieve ( -elle ); probably influenced by garboil

Example Sentences

You’re on Zoom, meeting with colleagues or catching up with a friend or trying to nail a job interview, when it happens: a freeze, garbled audio, a blank screen.

From The Wall Street Journal

Lily’s garbled words sound more like an alien language than anything resembling French.

From Literature

If it decides to do nothing, the firm can send an empty or deliberately garbled packet to Eurex.

From The Wall Street Journal

Still, the October and November employment estimates are sure to be garbled by the deferred resignations of federal employees.

From MarketWatch

I hear ghostly whispers from the weapon’s runes, garbled messages spoken in forgotten languages.

From Literature

Related Words

• misinterpret