garble

UK: /ˈɡɑːb^əl/ US: /ˈgɑrbəl/ ,(gär′bəl)

Inflections of 'garble' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

garbles

v 3rd person singular

garbling

v pres p

garbled

v past

garbled

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

gar•ble /ˈgɑrbəl/   v. [~ + object] , -bled, -bling. 

1. to distort unintentionally or ignorantly;
   jumble:
   to garble instructions.
2. to make unfair or misleading selections from or distort (facts, statements, writings, etc.) so as to change the meaning:
   to garble a quotation.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

gar•ble  (gär′bəl), v., -bled, -bling, n. 
v.t. 

1. to confuse unintentionally or ignorantly;
   jumble:
   to garble instructions.
2. to make unfair or misleading selections from or arrangement of (fact, statements, writings, etc.);
   distort:
   to garble a quotation.
3. [Archaic.] to take out the best of.

n. 

4. the act or process of garbling.
5. an instance of garbling;
   a garbled phrase, literary passage, etc.

• Late Latin crībellāre, derivative of crībellum, diminutive of Latin crībrum sieve (see -elle); probably influenced by garboil
• Arabic gharbala
• Old Italian garbellare to sift
• late Middle English garbelen to remove refuse from spices 1400–50

gar′ble•a•ble, adj. 
gar′bler, n. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

garble / ˈɡɑːb^əl/ verb (transitive)

1. to jumble (a story, quotation, etc), esp unintentionally
2. to distort the meaning of (an account, text, etc), as by making misleading omissions; corrupt
3. to select the best part of

noun

1. the act of garbling
2. garbled matter

Etymology: 15th Century: from Old Italian garbellare to strain, sift, from Arabic gharbala, from ghirbāl sieve, from Late Latin crībellum small sieve, from crībrum sieve

ˈgarbler noun