Home › Glossary › Letter B

brabble

Archaic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

To quarrel noisily over trifling matters; to bicker or argue about petty issues, suggesting foolish or undignified dispute lacking serious substance.

Detailed Definition
“Brabble” mocks insignificant conflict, often in satirical or comedic contexts. It appears in plays and light verse to deflate pomposity or highlight human folly. The word’s repetitive consonants mimic the sound of squabbling, enhancing its caricature. Though minor, it serves as social commentary, contrasting trivial bickering with larger moral or cosmic concerns in didactic poetry.
Example
Example in poetry:
"They fell to brabble over the last crust," in a poem of famine; In Shakespeare’s Henry IV: "This brabble you began"; "Cease your brabble, children of discord!" thunders the patriarch; A satirist writes of courtiers "in endless brabble"; "The brabble of crows at dawn disturbed his dream"; Their love dissolved into petty brabble.
Additional Notes
“Brabble” is a contemptuous term for trivial disputes, often used satirically to mock human pettiness; its onomatopoeic quality (repetition of “b”) mimics the sound of squabbling, making it effective in comic or moralizing verse.
Also Known As
squabble brawl tiff
Skip to main content