conversation
[noun]
Synonyms: talk, chat, conference, dialogue, discourse, discussion, gossip, tête-à-tête

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Related Words: discussion, discourse, speech, talk, debate, deliberation, ventilation, comment, observation, remark, cross talk, repartee

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English Thesaurus: conversation, discussion, talk, chat, natter, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

con‧ver‧sa‧tion S1 W2 /ˌkɒnvəˈseɪʃən $ ˌkɑːnvər-/ noun
[Date: 1300-1400; Language: Old French; Origin: Latin conversatio, from conversari; ⇒ converse¹]
[uncountable and countable] an informal talk in which people exchange news, feelings, and thoughts:
a telephone conversation
Children quickly get bored by adult conversation.
conversation with
a short conversation with the teacher
conversation about
a conversation about family and friends
They had a short conversation in German and seemed to be disagreeing about something.
It’s impossible to carry on a conversation with all this noise in the background.
‘Did you have a good journey?’ he said, trying to make conversation.
He was silent, no matter how hard Sofia tried to engage him in conversation.
After a while, the conversation turned to a friend’s coming wedding.
They were deep in conversation, relaxed and smiling.
He could hear snatches of conversation from across the room.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

conversation
noun
ADJ. brief, short | lengthy, long We engaged in a long conversation.
endless listening to endless conversations about high prices and food shortages
casual, everyday, general, informal, normal, ordinary It's not a subject that often crops up in casual conversation.
intimate, personal, private | face-to-face | overheard, recorded, taped | phone/telephone | civilized, polite We sat making polite conversation and feeling rather uncomfortable.
friendly, pleasant | animated | fascinating, good, intelligent, interesting, stimulating He said that television had been the death of good conversation.
proper, real, serious There was no time away from the topic of money. She turned the conversation to her work.
enter, join (in) | break off | conclude, end, finish | avoid She avoided conversation with the other passengers.
encourage I was courteous but didn't encourage conversation.
hear, listen to, overhear | interrupt | resume | have no a plain girl who had no conversation (= could not make conversation) and no social graces
CONVERSATION + VERB take place When did this conversation take place?
continue, proceed The conversation proceeded in French. | flow They all relaxed and conversation flowed freely.
come back/round to, drift, move on (to), switch, turn to, veer back/off The conversation drifted for a proper conversation.
simple When you are struggling with an unfamiliar language, the simplest cinto family chat. The | strange | chance A chance conversation led to a brilliant new career for the young catering student.
desultory, halting, stilted We carried on a rather halting conversation.
hushed, low-voiced, murmured, muted, muttered, quiet, whispered | shouted | one-sided, two-way Think of prayer as a two-way conversation.
imaginary | after-dinner | adult Young children become quickly bored by adult conversation.
QUANT. snatch I overheard snatches of a conversation between two doctors.
VERB + CONVERSATION carry on, have, hold, make You can't hold a private conversation there. I tried to make conversation with the three silent people round the table.
begin, draw sb into, engage sb in, fall into, get into, open, start, strike up I got into conversation with one of the directors. He was waiting for her to open the conversation. I was keen to strike up a conversation with him.
be deep in, be engaged in They were deep in conversation and didn't notice the time.
continue, keep up Cara kept up a one-sided conversation.
control, dominate | bring around/round, steer, turn I managed to bring the conversation round to why they were leaving. He tried to steer the conversation conversation moved on to other things. The conversation turned to holidays in France.
cease, end, stop All conversation ceased and everyone turned round. The conversation ended when the vacuum cleaner started up.
run out All too soon the stilted conversation ran out.
PREP. during ~ In the Western world it is polite to maintain eye contact during conversation.
in ~ with In the programme tonight we hear Dr Chris Toole in conversation with the artist Mary Witherspoon.
~ about We had a long conversation about old cars.
~ between a conversation between Jane and her parents
~ on a conversation on the topic of activities for children
~ with I had an interesting conversation with Dick Whortly.
PHRASES an attempt at conversation She ignored all my attempts at conversation.
be in close/deep/earnest conversation (with sb) Don was in close conversation with the girl on his right.
a babble/buzz/hum of conversation She could hear him over the buzz of conversation and laughter.
during the course of (the) conversation During the course of conversation, it emerged that Sheila had lived in Nigeria.
keep the conversation going Our hostess did her best to keep the conversation going.
a lull in the conversation, a topic of conversation The main topic of conversation was the big football match.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

conversation noun [uncountable and countable] an informal talk in which people exchange news, feelings, and thoughts:
I was having a conversation with a friend the other day.
Conversation wasn’t easy because of all the noise.
He overheard our conversation about the children.
discussion noun [uncountable and countable] a conversation about something important:
There was a lot of discussion about where the money was going to come from.
The two companies have been having discussions about a possible takeover.
talk noun [countable] a long conversation, especially about a problem or about what you plan to do:
We had a long talk about our relationship.
chat noun [countable] especially British English an informal friendly conversation:
I’ve just had a chat with Vinnie.
natter noun [singular] British English informal a conversation with a friend about unimportant things:
Mary and Jean were having a cup of tea and a natter.
gossip noun [singular, uncountable] conversations in which people talk about things they have heard, especially about other people’s private lives, which may well not be true:
She always enjoyed going to friends’ houses and having a gossip.
It’s all just gossip.
small talk noun [uncountable] polite friendly conversation about unimportant subjects, especially when you do not know someone very well and feel a little nervous:
We stood around making small talk about the weather.
banter noun [uncountable] friendly conversation in which people joke with each other and gently make fun of each other:
She enjoyed the friendly banter with her colleagues at the office.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

conversation
ˌkɔnvəˈseɪʃən
See: make conversation

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲