1. A small, showy ornament of little value; a trinket.
2. Archaic. A mock scepter carried by a court jester.

[Middle English babel, from Old French, plaything.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.