Library / English Dictionary

CHAT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: chatted    , chatting   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Songbirds having a chattering call

Synonyms:

chat; Old World chat

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("chat" is a kind of...):

thrush (songbirds characteristically having brownish upper plumage with a spotted breast)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "chat"):

Saxicola torquata; stonechat (common European chat with black plumage and a reddish-brown breast)

Saxicola rubetra; whinchat (brown-and-buff European songbird of grassy meadows)

Holonyms ("chat" is a member of...):

genus Saxicola; Saxicola (Old World chats)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Birds having a chattering call

Synonyms:

chat; New World chat

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("chat" is a kind of...):

New World warbler; wood warbler (small bright-colored American songbird with a weak unmusical song)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "chat"):

Icteria virens; yellow-breasted chat (American warbler noted for imitating songs of other birds)

Holonyms ("chat" is a member of...):

genus Icteria; Icteria (New World chats)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An informal conversation

Synonyms:

chat; confab; confabulation; schmoose; schmooze

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("chat" is a kind of...):

conversation (the use of speech for informal exchange of views or ideas or information etc.)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "chat"):

causerie; chin-wag; chin-wagging; chin wag; chin wagging; chit-chat; chit chat; chitchat; gab; gabfest; gossip; small talk; tittle-tattle (light informal conversation for social occasions)

Derivation:

chat (talk socially without exchanging too much information)

chatty (prone to friendly informal communication)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Talk socially without exchanging too much information

Example:

the men were sitting in the cafe and shooting the breeze

Synonyms:

chaffer; chat; chatter; chew the fat; chit-chat; chitchat; claver; confab; confabulate; gossip; jaw; natter; shoot the breeze; visit

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "chat" is one way to...):

converse; discourse (carry on a conversation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "chat"):

jawbone; schmoose; schmooze; shmoose; shmooze (talk idly or casually and in a friendly way)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence examples:

Sam and Sue chat

Sam wants to chat with Sue

Derivation:

chat (an informal conversation)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I shall drop round early to-morrow morning and chat the matter over.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Well, he became more reasonable and we had a chat.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

After the first chat of pleasure he was silent; and then, in a graver tone, began with, I have something to tell you, Emma; some news.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

In chatting with Miss Tilney before the evening concluded, a new source of felicity arose to her.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Who could write chat to Sir Thomas?

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

It was mere lively chat, such as any young persons, on an intimate footing, might fall into.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

This can be abused to steal sensitive information such as credit card numbers, passwords, chat messages, emails, photos and so on.

(Digital security researchers publicly reveal vulnerability in WPA2 WiFi protocol, Wikinews)

Just as he was falling asleep, he heard two men passing by, chatting together; and one said to the other, How can we rob that rich parson’s house of his silver and gold?

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

It will require a lot of concentration, and you won’t want to be distracted by colleagues, co-workers, or subordinates who stop by to chat, one reason you might want to work at home or in the library.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The Duke of York tells me of the Army in the morning, and Lord Spencer chats with me of the Navy in the afternoon, and Dundas whispers me what is going forward in the Cabinet, so that I have little need of the Times or the Morning Chronicle.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)