garble
garble Lexical Profile
garble Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To reproduce or transmit (a message, sound, or transmission) in a confused and distorted way so that it is difficult to understand.
"The answering machine managed to garble the caller's phone number beyond recognition."
To distort or misrepresent the meaning of (facts, statements, or writings) by unfair selection or omission of parts.
"Critics accused the commentator of attempting to garble the historian's quotes to support a partisan argument."
To sift or cleanse (spices, drugs, or other commodities) in order to remove dust, refuse, or inferior parts (archaic).
"Apothecaries were once legally required to garble their dried herbs before compounding medicines."
• noun
A confused, distorted, or unintelligible message, account, or transmission.
"Due to the poor radio signal, the pilot's transmission came through as an incomprehensible garble."
Refuse, dust, or impurities sifted from spices, drugs, or other goods (usually in plural, historical).
"Early merchant guilds inspected imported cargos to ensure that the garbles had been properly removed from the peppercorns."
• Rhymes for garble
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late Middle English period from Italian 'garbellare' (to sift), via Arabic 'garbala' (to sift or select), ultimately from Late Latin 'cribrare' (to sift), from 'cribrum' (sieve). The word originally meant to sort or sift spices to remove impurities, before shifting to mean selecting unfairly and finally distorting a message.