garble

¹gar·ble

verb \ˈgär-bəl\

gar·bledgar·bling\-b(ə-)liŋ\

Definition of GARBLE

transitive verb

1

archaic : cull 1

2

: to sift impurities from

3

a : to so alter or distort as to create a wrong impression or change the meaning <garble a story> b : to introduce textual error into (a message) by inaccurate encipherment, transmission, or decipherment

— gar·bler \-b(ə-)lər\ noun

Examples of GARBLE

1. <the candidate complained that his views had been deliberately garbled by his opponent>
2. <garbled spices are less likely to contaminate a recipe>

Origin of GARBLE

Middle English garbelen, from Old Italian garbellare to sift, from Arabic gharbala, from Late Latin cribellare, from cribellum sieve; akin to Latin cernere to sift — more at certain

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to GARBLE

Synonyms: bend, color, cook, distort, falsify, fudge, misinterpret, misrelate, misrepresent, misstate, pervert, slant, twist, warp

Related Words: misdescribe, misspeak, mistranslate; belie, camouflage, disguise, dissemble, gloss (over), mask, veil, whitewash; bowdlerize, censor; complicate, confound, confuse, mistake, mix (up); mystify, obscure; equivocate, fib, lie, palter, prevaricate

Near Antonyms: clarify, clear (up), explain, illuminate, illustrate, interpret, spell out; decipher

see all synonyms and antonyms

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Rhymes with GARBLE

barbel, marble