MUMBLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does mumble mean? 

• MUMBLE (noun)
  The noun MUMBLE has 1 sense:

1. a soft indistinct utterance

  Familiarity information: MUMBLE used as a noun is very rare.

• MUMBLE (verb)
  The verb MUMBLE has 2 senses:

1. talk indistinctly; usually in a low voice

2. grind with the gums; chew without teeth and with great difficulty

  Familiarity information: MUMBLE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MUMBLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A soft indistinct utterance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("mumble" is a kind of...):

utterance; vocalization (the use of uttered sounds for auditory communication)

Derivation:

mumble (talk indistinctly; usually in a low voice)

• MUMBLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they mumble    ... he / she / it mumbles   
Past simple: mumbled   
Past participle: mumbled   
-ing form: mumbling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Talk indistinctly; usually in a low voice

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

maunder; mumble; mussitate; mutter

Hypernyms (to "mumble" is one way to...):

mouth; speak; talk; utter; verbalise; verbalize (express in speech)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence examples:

Sam and Sue mumble
They mumble that there was a traffic accident

Derivation:

mumble (a soft indistinct utterance)

mumbler (a person who speaks softly and indistinctly)

mumbling (indistinct enunciation)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Grind with the gums; chew without teeth and with great difficulty

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

gum; mumble

Context example:

the old man had no teeth left and mumbled his food

Hypernyms (to "mumble" is one way to...):

chew; jaw; manducate; masticate (chew (food); to bite and grind with the teeth)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

mumbling (ineffectual chewing (as if without teeth))

 Context examples 

Still, you kept mumbling to yourself, where is the money?

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

"Twelve o'clock," he mumbled, "A clear sky, and no sun."

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

He mumbled several words, you understand, but that was all that caught the son’s ear.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He mumbled out that the money had been sent in a letter, and that was all he knew.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

"I guess you can come an' get me any time," he mumbled.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

She mumbled something to herself, seized the nightingale, and went away with it in her hand.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

She turned away, still mumbling blessings, and Alleyne saw her short figure and her long shadow stumbling slowly up the slope.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"I guess I forgot your last birthday, Mart," she mumbled lamely.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Mr. Trevor mumbled something to us about having been shipmate with the man when he was going back to the diggings, and then, leaving us on the lawn, he went indoors.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Again, I listen to Miss Murdstone mumbling the responses, and emphasizing all the dread words with a cruel relish.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)