garble

present singular third person garbles · participle present garbling · participle past garbled · past garbled

1. To pick out such parts (of a text) as may serve a purpose not intended by the original author; to mutilate; to pervert.

   to garble an account

   3 more examples

   to garble a quotation

   He's garbled the details, but the outline of the story is still pretty clear.

   In a word, as the whole relation is carefully garbled of all the levity and looseness that was in it, so it all applied, and with the utmost care, to virtuous and religious uses. None can, without being guilty of manifest injustice, cast any reproach upon it, or upon our design in publishing it.

   1722, Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders, The Author's Preface

2. To make false by mutilation or addition.

   The editor garbled the story.

3. To corrupt; to make unreadable, incomprehensible, or unintelligible.

   The announcement was completely garbled.

   Synonyms: scramble

4. obsoleteTo sift or bolt; to separate the fine or valuable parts of (something) from the coarse and useless parts, or from dross or dirt.

   to garble spices

plural garbles

1. countableuncountableConfused or unintelligible speech.

   The FCC says it decided to attempt standardization of VHF receivers after getting "thousands of complaints" from disgruntled boatmen who found their sets brought in mostly a lot of garble and static.

   1976, Boating (volume 40, numbers 1-2, page 152)

2. countableobsoleteuncountableRefuse; rubbish.
3. countableobsoleteuncountableMutilation.

   Did not the lady smile upon the garble

   1808, Peter Pindar, letter to Joseph Nollekens

4. countableobsoleteuncountableImpurities separated from spices, drugs, etc.; garblings.