Main Entry:

¹gar·ble

Pronunciation:

\ˈgär-bəl\

Function:

transitive verb

Inflected Form(s):

gar·bled; gar·bling \-b(ə-)liŋ\

Etymology:

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

Date:

15th century

1archaic : cull 12: to sift impurities from3 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