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Webster 1913 Edition

Gab

Gab

(găb)
,
Noun.
[Cf.
Gaff
.]
(Steam Engine)
The hook on the end of an eccentric rod opposite the strap. See. Illust. of
Eccentric
.

Gab

,
Noun.
[OE.
gabbe
gabble, mocking, fr. Icel.
gabb
mocking, mockery, or OF.
gab
,
gabe
; perh. akin to E.
gape
, or
gob
. Cf.
Gab
,
Verb.
I.
,
Gibber
.]
The mouth; hence, idle prate; chatter; unmeaning talk; loquaciousness.
[Colloq.]
Gift of gab
,
facility of expression.
[Colloq.]

Gab

,
Verb.
I.
[OE.
gabben
to jest, lie, mock, deceive, fr. Icel.
gabba
to mock, or OF.
gaber
. See 2d
Gab
, and cf.
Gabble
.]
1.
To deceive; to lie.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
2.
To talk idly; to prate; to chatter.
Holinshed.

Webster 1828 Edition

Gab

GAB

,
Noun.
The mouth; as in the phrase, the gift of the gab, that is, loquaciousness. But the word is so vulgar as rarely to be used.

Definition 2024

gab

gab

See also: GAB and gãb

English

Noun

gab ‎(plural gabs)

  1. Idle chatter.
  2. The mouth or gob.
  3. One of the open-forked ends of rods controlling reversing in early steam engines.

Synonyms

  • See also Wikisaurus:talkative

Translations

Derived terms

Verb

gab ‎(third-person singular simple present gabs, present participle gabbing, simple past and past participle gabbed)

  1. (intransitive, obsolete) To jest; to tell lies in jest; exaggerate; lie.
  2. (intransitive) To talk or chatter a lot, usually on trivial subjects.
  3. (transitive, obsolete) To speak or tell falsely.

Translations

Anagrams

Amanab

Noun

gab

  1. a large dove

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse gap, verbal noun to gapa ‎(“to gape”).

Noun

gab n (singular definite gabet, plural indefinite gab)

  1. mouth, jaws
  2. yawn
  3. gap

Inflection

German

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɡaːp/
  • Rhymes: -aːp

Verb

gab

  1. First-person singular preterite of geben.
  2. Third-person singular preterite of geben.

Old French

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowing from Old Norse gabb.

Noun

gab m ‎(oblique plural gas, nominative singular gas, nominative plural gab)

  1. joke
    • circa 1177, Chrétien de Troyes, Le Chevalier de la Charrette, page 50 (of the Livres de Poche Lettres gothiques edition, ISBN 9782253054016), line 96:
      Est ce a certes ou a gas?
      Is this certain or in jest?

Related terms

References

Etymology

From Middle English gabben, from Old English gabban ‎(“to scoff, mock, delude, jest”) and Old Norse gabba ‎(“to mock, make sport of”); both from Proto-Germanic *gabbaną ‎(“to mock, jest”), from Proto-Indo-European *ghabh- ‎(“to be split, be forked, gape”). Cognate with Scots gab ‎(“to mock, prate”), North Frisian gabben ‎(“to jest, sport”), Middle Dutch gabben ‎(“to mock”), Middle Low German gabben ‎(“to jest, have fun”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɡæb/
  • Rhymes: -æb

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