gabble 
2. To utter inarticulate sounds in rapid suc- 
cession, like a goose when feeding. 
Where'er she trod grimalkin purr'd around, 
The squeaking pigs her bounty own'd ; 
Nor to the waddling duck or gabbling goose 
Did she glad sustenance refuse. 
Smollett, Burlesque Ode. 
[Who] lisps and gabblesit he tries to talk. 
Crabbe, Works, II. 104. 
II. trans. 1 . To utter noisily, rapidly, and in- 
coherently: as, to gabble a lesson. [Colloq.] 
2. To affect in some way by gabbling. 
2424 
excise duty, especially in continental Europe ; 
formerly, in France, specifically the tax on salt, 
but also applied to taxes on other industrial 
products. 
The thre estates ordenid that the gabell of salt shulde 
ron through the realme. 
Berners, tr. of Froissart's Chron., I. civ. 
He enabled St. Peter to pay his gabel by the ministry of 
a fish. Jer. Taylor, Holy Living, ii. 6. 
The gabels of Naples are very high on oil, wine, tobacco, 
and indeed on almost everything that can be eaten, drank, 
or worn. Addison, Remarks on Italy (ed. Bohn), I. 429. 
gabled 
pickets which form the frame for the gabion. Also called 
of gabions, < gabbionc, gabion : see gabion.'] 1 . 
In fort., a work formed chiefly of gabions, espe- 
cially the gabions placed to cover guns from an 
enfilading fire. 
Gabionades used as traverses to protect guns from enfi- 
lading fire. Sci. Amer., N. S., LVII. 272. 
2. Any hydraulic structure composed in whole 
or part of gabions sunk in a stream to control 
What do I talk about the gift of tongues? ... It was gabel (ga'bel), v. t. ; pret. and pp. gabeled or tne cun . erl t. 
no gift, but the confusion of tongues which has gabbled gabelled, ppr. gabeling or gabellmg. [< gabel, n.] ea V,ionaee (ga'bi-on-ai), n. [X tiabion + -age.] 
me deaf as a post. Charlotte Bnm^Shirley, i. T? t_ ax . [feare.] /The supply or disposition of gabions in a for- 
gabble (gab'l), n. [< gabble, v.] 1. Loud or gabeler, gabeller (ga'bel-er), n. A collector of tification. 
rapid talk without sense or coherence. the gabel or of taxes. [Bare.] gabioned (ga'bi-ond), a. [< gdbion + -etft.] In 
Forthwith a hideous gabble rises loud oV11 a oH a <<,<i.WA .. -vAl'lV . fMT. .- 9-v-j _.A , 
Among the builders ; each to other calls, 
Not understood. tlilton, P. L., xii. 66. 
foldings "of such a group of freemen and serfs, 
or of either. The original significance of the word 
seems to be in its indication of a small rent-paying com- 
munity, the rents being rendered in kind or in labor. 
So that Gabella meant all the members of a family hav- 
ing an Interest in a certain holding, and sometimes meant 
the holding itself. 
W. K. Sullivan, Int. to O'Curry's Anc. Irish, p. Ixxxvi. g a hionnade M 
He [the driver] talks incessantly, calls the horses by 
name, . . . makes long speeches. . . . The conductor is 
too dignified a person to waste himself in this gabble. 
C. D. Warner, Roundabout Journey, p. 232. 
2. Inarticulate chattering, as of fowl. 
Chough's language, gabble enough, and good enough. 
Shak., All's Well, iv. 1. 
= Syn. 1. See prattle, n. 
gabella, gavella (ga-bel'a, -vel'a), n. [ML.: -f or T furnished "with, forme"d of, or protected 
see gabel.] In Teut. and early Eng. hist., the bv g a t,i ong . 
peasantry constituting a village or hamlet ; the The f()urth day were p]anted vnder tne ^ of tne cloi8 . 
ter two demy-canons and two coluerings against the 
towne, defended or gabbioned with a crosse wall, thorow 
the which our battery lay. Hakluyt's Voyages, II. ii. 140. 
He told me he had a plan of attacking Cherbourg by 
floating batteries, strongly parapetted and gabioned, which 
he was sure would succeed. 
W. a. Russell, Diary in India, I. 378. 
See gabionade. 
The act of gabbling; senseless talk; prate; jab- gabeller, n. See gabeler. 
ber. [Bare.] gabelman (ga'bel-man), n.; pl.gabelmen(-meji). 
with caperings, shoutings, [< gabel + man: see gabel.] A tax-collector; 
a gabeler. [Bare.] 
He flung gabellemen and excisemen into the river Du- 
rance . . . when their claims were not clear. 
They rush to the attack . . . 
and vociferation, which, if the Volunteer Company stands 
gabblement(gab'l-ment),. [< gabble + -ment.] gabelle (ga-bel'),n. [F.: seegabel.] Seegabel. ga.ble 1 (ga'bl), . [E. dial, also gavel; < ME. 
-*" *" " -*-- , /<Me> gabyl, < OF. F. gable, < ML. gabulum, ga- 
balum, a gable, < OHG. gabala, gabal, MHG. 
gabile, gabel, G. gabel, a fork, = MLG. gaffele, 
geffele = D. gaffel (> Icel. gaffall, Sw. Dan. gaf- 
fel), a fork, = AS. geafl, a fork, E. gaffle, q. v., 
= Icel. gafl = Sw. gafvel = Dan. gavl, a gable ; 
cf . L. gabalus, a kind of gallows (of Teut. or 
Celtic origin) ; prob. all of Celtic origin: IT. ga- 
bhal, a fork, a gable, = Gael, gobhal = ~W.'gafl, 
a fork. Similar in form and sense to the above 
words, and partly confused with them, although 
appar. of different origin, are OHG. gibil, gable, 
fore part, MHG. 
h 
panic flight. 
"This court's got as good ears as any man, 
lv 
, u, v. 4. 
said the 
Carlyle, Misc., IV. 76. 
See gabardine. 
gabblemeni though .it's undeVoath " CAroH offineviUe. gaberdine, gaberdeine, , See gabardine. 
gabbler (gab'l t r),. .One who gabbles; a prat- ^f^g^gg^KSfflA 
er; a noisy, silly, or incoherent talker. , . , , ?', 
gabbling (gab'ling), n. [Verbal n. of gabble, v.] 
Incoherent babble ; jabber. 
Barbarians, who are in every respect scarce one degree 
above brutes, having no language among them, but a con 
fused gabbling, which is neither well understood by them- 
selves or other. Spectator, No. 389. 
gabbro (gab'ro), n. [A word of obscure origin 
used in Italy, but more especially in the neigh- 
borhood of Florence, and by the marble-work- 
ers there, and introduced into lithological sci- 
ence by Von Buch in 1809.] A rock of varied 
lithological character, essentially, according to 
the present general acceptation of the name 
among lithologists, a crystalline-^ ' 
gregate of plagioclase and diallage, 
often occur magnetite (or menachanite) and 
apatite. Often the diallage is associated with a rhombic 
soilzie, etc. ), said to be < gaber-, short for gaber- 
dine, + lunyie, wallet.] 1. A wallet or pouch; 
especially, a pouch or bag carried by Scotch 
beggars for receiving contributions, as of meal 
or other food. 
Follow me frae town to town, 
And carry the Qaberlun'jie on. 
Ritton's Scottish Songi, I. 166. 
2. Short for gaberlunyie-man. 
I am no that clean unprovided for neither ; and though 
I should die at the back of a dike, they'll find as muckle 
quilted in this auld blue gown as will bury me like a 
Christian ; . . . sae there's the gaberlunzie's burial pro- 
vided for, and I need nae mair. Scott, Antiquary, xii. 
gibel, G. giebel, 
gable, = MLG. 
D. gevel, a ga- 
ble, = Goth. 
gibla, a pin- 
nacle; these 
words are per- 
haps connected 
with OHG. ge- 
bal, MHG. 
pyroxene (bronzite or hypei-sthene, two closely allied mem- 
b 
, 
bers of the augite or pyroxene family), and when this 
Sredominates the rock passes into what is called norite. 
livin isalsofrequentlypresent, and the predominance of 
this mineral gives rise to combinations to which the names 
olimn-gabbro and olimn-norite have been given. The 
original gabbro of Von Buch, now called saussurite-gab- 
bro, ' 
v <~ IM ti i i"ii vj. w*i^ A*cu4u _ . _ . V\MV. .-...--. ye 
rystalline-granular ag- gaberlunyie-man, gaberlnnzie-man (gab-er- M skuUj head) 
nddiallafje, with which lun'yi-man, -zi-man), n. A beggar who car- OHG 
ries a pouch for alms ; a poor guest who cannot 
pay for his entertainment. [Scotch.] 
She's aff with the gaberlunyie-man. 
Ritson's Scottish Songs, I. 167. 
the strata at Gabian, a village in the depart- 
.. ment of He'rault, France. 
ro, is one of the many alterative forms of gabbro proper, -.vjilo /-o-o Wl'a ^n TMVITI era ViS'lvM n FCu- 
which is perhaps the most perplexing of all rocks in re- gabllla (ga- bl1 <b P- P ron - S a ; D < '*>> . n - l^ u 
spect to the manifold nature of the alterations it is liable ban.] A finger or parcel of tobacco in Cuba, 
to undergo. In regard to the nomenclature of many of consisting of about 36 to 40 leaves. The bales 
these there is not much present unity among lithologists. are ugua ll v ma de up of 80 hands, each of 4 ga- 
Gabbro ro 8/ ojlt.,^red i g : abbro ? , i a 7 o_ck ! 0ccurrm 1 at_the ^ Simmonds 
junction of the serpentine and the macigno (a micaceous 
uncon o . 
sandstone) of Tuscany, is an altered sedimentary forma- gabion (ga bl-on), n. 
tion very variable in texture and composition. Gabbro < It. gabbione, a gab 
- 
verde (It., green gabbro), or gabbro simply, as it is some- 
aibilla, 
head, perhaps = 
Gr. Kt0a^,head. 
See gaff*.] 1. 
In arch., the 
end of a ridged 
roof which at 
its extremity is 
not hipped or 
returned on it- 
self, but cut off 
in a Vertical Gable of the South Transept Door of No- 
* +,.,*!./, tre Dame, Paris ; nth century. (From Viol- 
plane, together l-le-Duc's"DictfdcrArcr,.") Scedef.a. 
with the trian- 
gular expanse of wall from the level of the eaves 
ion, a large cage, aug. of to the apex : distinguished from a pediment in 
i ----- 
[< OF. gabion, F. gabion, 
does not contain diallage ; the rock 
ca, on the other hand, has crystals of diallage disseminated 
through the serpentine. Verde di Corsica (It., Corsica 
green), a variety of gabbro now called by Italians grani- 
tone and eufotide (euphotide), is the beautiful green stone 
extensively employed in the interior decorations of the 
Medicean chapel in Florence. It is a crystalline aggre- 
gate of saussurite and smaragdite (a grass-green variety 
of hornblende). See hypersthenite. 
gabbroic (gab-ro'ik), a. [< gabbro + -ic.] Of 
or of the nature of gabbro : as, gabbroic rocks. 
It is becoming more and more evident that eruptions of 
gabbroic and granitic rocks must be admitted as important 
elements in its [the Cascade range's] construction. 
Science, IV. 71. 
gabbronite (gab'ro-nit), n. [< gabbro + -n- + 
' A mineral^ supposed to be a variety of 
scapolite, occurring in masses, whose structure O f gabions is' placed on the outside nearest the fortress, and 
is more or less foliated, or sometimes compact. 
Its colors are gray, bluish- or greenish-gray, 
and sometimes red. Also gabronite stnAfuscite. 
gabby (gab'i), a. [< gabi + -yl.] Talkative ; 
chattering; loquacious. [Colloq.] 
On condition I were as gabby 
As either thee or honest Habby. Ramsay. 
gabel (ga'bel), n. [Formerlyjilso gabell ; < F. 
gabelle = Pr. gabelli 
bella (ML. gabella. 
post, prob. < AS. 4 . . 
tribute, tax, rent: see gavel*.] A tax, impost, or 
cornice is not carried across the base 
of the triangle. 
Thatched were the roofs, with dormer windows ; and ga- 
bles projecting 
Over the basement below protected and shaded the door- 
way. Longfellow, Evangeline, i. 1. 
2. Any architectural member having the form 
of a gable, as a triangular canopy over a window 
or a doorway. 3. The end-wall of a house; a 
gable-end. 
The houses stand sidewaies backward into their yards, 
and onely endwaies with their gables towards the street. 
Fuller, Worthies, Exeter. 
Mutual gable, in Scots law, a wall separating two houses, 
and common to both. 
We constantly speak of a mutual gable, or a gable being 
mean and common to conterminous proprietors. 
ff. and Q., 7th ser., IV. 66. 
fiiledTwith 'earth "dug ;'frora"the trench, forming a breast- Stepped gable, a gable in which the outline is formed by 
gabbia, 
cage.] 
constructed with stakes and osiers, or green 
twigs, in a cylindrical form, but without a bot- 
tom, varying in 
diameter from 
20 to 70 inches, 
and in height 
to 5 or 6 feet, 
filled with 
earth, and serv- 
ing to shelter 
men from an 
enemy's fire, in 
a siege, when mak- 
ing a trench, a row 
Part of Trench, with A, Fascines, and B. 
Gabions. 
, 
a series of steps, called corbel-steps. 
E. gable, gabu 
of cable, q. v.] A cable. Chapman. 
, 
work that is proof against musketry fire. By increasing ,. r _, 
the number of rows to cover the points of junction, com- p;able-t n. K ME. gable, gabulle, an irreg. form 
plete protection can be attained. Gabions are also largely B nf f r,hl/> n 
used to form the foundations of dams and jetties. They 
are filled with stones, and sunk or anchored in streams 
where they will become loaded with silt. See jetty. 
2. See the quotation. gable-board (ga'bl-bord), n. 
[Gabions are] curiosities of small intrinsic value, whether board. 
They had neither oares, mastes, sailes, gables, or any- 
thing else ready of any gaily. Hakluyfi Voyages, II. 134. 
Same as barge- 
+ -ed*.] 
Pro- 
its circumference, to serve as guides for placing the 
, (ga'bld), a. [< gable* 
vided with a gable or gables. 
Lichfleld has not so many gabled houses as Coventry. 
Hawthorne, Our Old Home, p. 144. 
