tattle

Tattle — Tat tle, n. Idle talk or chat; trifling talk; prate. [1913 Webster] [They] told the tattle of the day. Swift. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

tattle — ► NOUN ▪ gossip; idle talk. ► VERB ▪ engage in tattle. DERIVATIVES tattler noun. ORIGIN Flemish tatelen, tateren …   English terms dictionary

Tattle — Tat tle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Tattled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Tattling}.] [Akin to OE. tateren, LG. tateln, D. tateren to stammer, and perhaps to E. titter.] 1. To prate; to talk idly; to use many words with little meaning; to chat. [1913 Webster] The …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

tattle — index betray (disclose), divulge, inform (notify), report (rumor) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton …   Law dictionary

tattle — (v.) late 15c., to stammer, prattle, in Caxton s translation of Reynard the Fox, probably from M.Flem. tatelen to stutter, parallel to M.Du., M.L.G., E.Fris. tateren to chatter, babble, possibly of imitative origin. The meaning tell tales or… …   Etymology dictionary

tattle — *gossip, blab Analogous words: divulge, disclose, betray, *reveal …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

tattle — [v] gossip; tell rumor babble, blab*, chat, chatter, give away, give the show away*, gossip, have a big mouth*, jabber, leak, noise, prate, prattle*, rumor, snitch, spill, spill the beans*, spread rumor*, squeal, talk, talk idly, tell on, tell… …   New thesaurus

tattle — [tat′ l] vi. tattled, tattling [LME tattlen, prob. < MDu tatelen, of echoic orig.] 1. to talk idly; chatter; gossip 2. to reveal other people s secrets; tell tales 3. to inform against someone vt. to reveal (a secret) through gossiping n. idle …   English World dictionary

tattle — 1. verb 1) we were tattling about him Syn: gossip, chatter, chat, prattle, babble, jabber, gabble, rattle on; informal chinwag, jaw, yak, gab, natter, tittle tattle, chitchat 2) I would tattle on her if I had evidence …   Thesaurus of popular words

tattle — v. (colloq.) (D; intr.) ( to inform ) to tattle on * * * [ tætl] (colloq.) (D; intr.) ( to inform ) to tattle on (colloq.) (D; intr.) ( to inform ) to tattle on …   Combinatory dictionary

tattle — tat|tle [ˈtætl] v [Date: 1400 1500; : Middle Dutch; Origin: tatelen] 1.) [i]old fashioned to talk about other people s private lives = ↑gossip 2.) especially AmE if a child tattles, they tell a parent or teacher that another child has done… …   Dictionary of contemporary English