† ˈprattle-box Obs.
[f. prattle n. + box n.2 Cf. chatterbox.]
A humorous name for a prattler or chatterer; a chatterbox.
| 1671 Glanvill Disc. M. Stubbe 2 Gross Ignoramusses, Illiterate Fools, Prattle-boxes, Catch-Dotterels,..Tories, Cheats, and poor Devils. 1696 Locke in Fox Bourne Life (1876) II. xv. 455 A very ill sign in a prattle-box of your age. 1751 R. Paltock P. Wilkins (1884) I. ii. 21 At last the old prattlebox having made a short pause to recover breath.., ‘Mr. Peter’, says she, ‘you look as if you did not know poor Patty’. |