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

Air traffic control communications reviewed by BBC Verify are largely garbled and full of interference so no meaningful conversation can be heard about the crash as it unfolded.

From BBC

Subtitles wouldn’t be the worst idea, though a sibling garble is part of their brand.

From The Wall Street Journal

Mortified, she enters the studio in a garbled flurry of apologies.

From BBC

He didn’t immediately respond and when he did speak his words were garbled.

From Los Angeles Times

Little was made of Trump’s continual garbling of sentences and loss of train of thought and his incredible barrage of lies, while the press put under a microscope every syllable uttered by Kamala Harris.

From Salon

Related Words

• misinterpret