- talk
- [[t]tɔk[/t]]v. i.1) to communicate or exchange ideas or information by speaking2) to consult or confer:Talk with your adviser[/ex]3) to spread a rumor; gossip4) to chatter or prate5) to use speech; perform the act of speaking6) to deliver a speech or lecture:The professor talked on modern physics[/ex]7) to give confidential or incriminating information:The spy talked during interrogation[/ex]8) to communicate by means other than speech, as by writing, signs, or signals9) to make sounds imitative or suggestive of speech10) to express in words; utter:to talk sense[/ex]11) to use (a specified language or idiom) in speaking or conversing:They talk French together[/ex]12) to discuss:to talk politics[/ex]13) cvb inf inf (used only in progressive tenses) to focus on; talk about:This isn't a question of a few hundred dollars—we're talking serious money[/ex]14) to drive or influence by talk:to talk a person to sleep[/ex]15) phv talk aroundto avoid discussion of16) idi talk back, to reply in a disrespectful manner17) phv talk downa) to subdue by talking, as by argumentb) to speak condescendinglyc) phv aer. Also, talk in. to give landing instructions to (a pilot) by radio18) phv talk outto try to clarify or resolve by discussion19) phv talk out of, to dissuade, as from doing, using, etc20) phv talk overto consider; discuss21) phv talk upa) to promote with enthusiastic descriptionb) to speak openly or distinctly22) the act of talking; speech23) an informal speech or lecture24) a conference or negotiating session:peace talks[/ex]25) rumor; gossip26) empty speech:all talk and no results[/ex]27) a way of talking:quiet talk[/ex]28) dialect or lingo29) sounds suggestive of speech•Etymology: 1175–1225; ME talk(i) en, der. of tale speech, discourse, tale; c. Fris (E dial.) talken talk′er, n.
From formal English to slang. 2014.