- to allow (saliva) to flow from the mouth; dribble
- (intransitive) to speak foolishly or childishly
- foolish or senseless talk
- saliva flowing from the mouth; slaver
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
driv•el /ˈdrɪvəl/USA pronunciation
n., v., -eled or -elled, -el•ing or -el•ling.
n. [uncountable]
v. [no object]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026n. [uncountable]
- saliva flowing from the mouth;
slaver. - childish, silly, or meaningless thinking;
twaddle:I had to listen to his drivel for hours.
v. [no object]
- to talk childishly or foolishly:driveling on about her friends at school.
driv•el
(driv′əl),USA pronunciation n. v., -eled, -el•ing or (esp. Brit.) -elled, -el•ling.
n.
v.i.
v.t.
driv′el•er;
[esp. Brit.,] driv′el•ler, n.
driv′el•ing•ly;
[esp. Brit.,] driv′el•ling•ly, adv.
n.
- saliva flowing from the mouth, or mucus from the nose;
slaver. - childish, silly, or meaningless talk or thinking;
nonsense;
twaddle.
v.i.
- to let saliva flow from the mouth or mucus from the nose;
slaver. - to talk childishly or idiotically.
- [Archaic.]to issue like spittle.
v.t.
- to utter childishly or idiotically.
- to waste foolishly.
- bef. 1000; Middle English dryvelen, variant of drevelen, Old English dreflian; akin to draff
[esp. Brit.,] driv′el•ler, n.
driv′el•ing•ly;
[esp. Brit.,] driv′el•ling•ly, adv.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
drivel /ˈdrɪvəl/ vb ( -els, -elling, -elled) ( US -els, -eling, -eled)
'drivel' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):