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# mumble

«mumble» in Mova's school dictionary: **To speak quietly and not clearly, so that people find it…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 4 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (mumble, mumbles, mumbled, mumbling); noun (a mumble, mumbles)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To speak quietly and not clearly, so that people find it hard to understand you. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mumble/#m1)

2) (noun) Quiet, unclear speech. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mumble/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In speaking and listening lessons: «Don't mumble — speak up and look at your audience». In stories it shows shyness, sleepiness or guilt: «he mumbled an apology», «mumbled something under his breath». Similar words: mutter, murmur, whisper.

### examples

- Don't mumble; speak clearly so we can hear you. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mumble/#x1)
- He mumbled «sorry» and looked at the floor. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mumble/#x2)
- She mumbled something in her sleep. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mumble/#x3)
- I couldn't understand his mumble. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mumble/#x4)
- The shy boy mumbled his name. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mumble/#x5)
- Stop mumbling and say it again loudly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mumble/#x6)
- Grandpa mumbled into his beard. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mumble/#x7)
- “What are you mumbling to yourself?” asked the Fairy. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mumble/#x8)

### note

Regular verb: mumbled. To «mumble» is not clear; to «whisper» is quiet but can be clear; to «mutter» is quiet and often grumpy. The «b» is spoken: «MUM-bul».

### In the corpora

- [The Hatter mumbles about «the twinkling of the tea»; the King says «Of course twinkling begins with a T!](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/22-alice-who-stole-the-tarts-2/19/)
- [Jake mumbles «ta».](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/370-standing-by-a-friend/17/)
- [«I said I was GETTING it,» Theo mumbled.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/422-gta-6-what-rated-18-means/5/)
- [His mum makes him say sorry, so he mumbles «soz» to the floor.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/477-saying-sorry-and-the-sorry-that-is-not-accepted/1/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «mumble» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mumble/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.