gift of the gab
gift of the gab noun: the ability to talk readily, glibly, and convincingly, especially on trivial matters and small talk.
Noun
gift of the gab (usually uncountable, plural gifts of the gab)
- The ability to talk readily, glibly, and convincingly, especially on trivial matters and small talk.
- "Ay, that he shall," replied Fagin, "and we'll have a big-wig, Charley: one that's got the greatest gift of the gab: to carry on his defence; and he shall make a speech for himself too, if he likes."1839, Charles Dickens, chapter 43, in Oliver Twist
- I had meant to speak for ten minutes and must now go on for forty, and, though I've been racking my brains for three hours to think of something, I simply cannot last the course. Now you've got to be a good chap and help me. You're a Free Trader and can tell our people what a wash-out Protection is...1915, John Buchan, chapter 4, in The Thirty-Nine Steps
gift of the gab meaning in Bengali and Kannada
gift of the gab in Kannada
- ಮಾತನಾಡುವ ಶಕ್ತಿ, ಭಾಷಣ ಶಕ್ತಿ, ವಾಕ್ಶಕ್ತಿ
Examples of gift of the gab in a sentence
- All you fellows have the gift of the gab.1915, John Buchan, chapter 4, in The Thirty-Nine Steps:
- The ex-oil economist can do it all because he has the gift of the gab and used to be a leftwing tearaway, expelled from the SNP ranks in stuffier times.2014 September 8, Michael White, “Roll up, roll up! The Amazing Salmond will show a Scotland you won't believe”, in The Guardian:
Forms of gift of the gab
| plural | gifts of the gab |
|---|---|
| alternative form | gift of gab |
Questions about gift of the gab
- What does gift of the gab mean?
- Gift of the gab means the ability to talk readily, glibly, and convincingly, especially on trivial matters and small talk.
- What is gift of the gab in Bengali?
- Gift of the gab in Bengali is সহজে. See Gift of the gab meaning in Bengali.
- How do you use gift of the gab in a sentence?
- All you fellows have the gift of the gab.
- What part of speech is gift of the gab?
- Gift of the gab is a noun.
- What is the plural of gift of the gab?
- The plural of gift of the gab is gifts of the gab.
Words near gift of the gab in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: gift of the gab (page history and authors); gift of the gab (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); gift of the gab (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-gift of the gab.ogg.
Cite this entry: “gift of the gab.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gift_of_the_gab. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.