From Middle English garbelen, from Anglo-Norman garbeler (“to sift”), from Medieval Latin garbellare (or a similar Italian word), from Arabic غَرْبَلَ (ḡarbala, “to sift”).
Meanings
(countable, uncountable) Confused 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)
From Middle English garbelen, from Anglo-Norman garbeler (“to sift”), from Medieval Latin garbellare (or a similar Italian word), from Arabic غَرْبَلَ (ḡarbala, “to sift”).
Meanings
To pick out such parts (of a text) as may serve a purpose not intended by the original author; to mutilate; to pervert.
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:
He's garbled the details, but the outline of the story is still pretty clear.
to garble an account
to garble a quotation
To make false by mutilation or addition.
The editor garbled the story.
To corrupt; to make unreadable, incomprehensible, or unintelligible.
The announcement was completely garbled.
(obsolete) To sift or bolt; to separate the fine or valuable parts of (something) from the coarse and useless parts, or from dross or dirt.