ˈchatterbox
[Perh. in origin akin to clapdish.]
Contemptuous or playful name for a habitual chatterer.
| 1774 C. Clive Let. 13 Jan. in Corr. Garrick (1831) I. 604 But I suppose his father can, for he is a fine chatter-box. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop (C.D. ed.) 93 A set of idle chatterboxes. 1876 Hardy Hand Ethelb. I. 41 One of those hostile days..when chatterbox ladies remain miserably in their homes. 1878 E. Jenkins Haverholme 52 A mere political chatterbox. |