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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

babel

/ˈbeɪ.bəl/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 1:13
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What does babel mean?

noun

  1. Alternative form of Babel.
  2. A confused noise made by a number of voices.
  3. A confused mixture of sounds and voices, especially in different languages.
More meanings (3)

noun

  1. A place or scene of noise and confusion.
  2. A tall, looming structure.

proper noun

  1. The city and tower in the land of Shinar where the confusion of languages took place, according to the Bible.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˈbeɪ.bəl/

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Other dictionary pronunciations

/ˈbæ.bəl/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

Men were shaking hands, it did not matter with whom, and bubbling over in a general incoherent babel.
Jack LondonThe call of the wildProject Gutenberg ebook #215
The strain of the previous moments was relaxed immediately, the guests crowded around the pair, shaking hands--a babel of talk arose.
Frank NorrisMcTeague: A Story of San FranciscoProject Gutenberg ebook #165
More book examples (3)
Its frontispiece depicts the confusion of tongues at Babel, and, as a pendant to this, the pentecostal gift of tongues to the apostles.
Andrew Dickson WhiteHistory of the Warfare of Science with Theology in ChristendomProject Gutenberg ebook #505
It would seem that the fierce wars which had devastated the land had ceased prior to the beginning of the Tower of Babel.
Eliza Burt GambleThe God-Idea of the Ancients; Or, Sex in ReligionProject Gutenberg ebook #639
Then all the scene was shaken with a babel of bird notes in which you could hear a cardinal whistling, and a blue finch piping.
Gene Stratton-PorterA Girl of the LimberlostProject Gutenberg ebook #125