TALK

talk

(noun) the act of giving a talk to an audience; “I attended an interesting talk on local history”

talk, talking

(noun) an exchange of ideas via conversation; “let’s have more work and less talk around here”

talk

(noun) discussion; (‘talk about’ is a less formal alternative for ‘discussion of’); “his poetry contains much talk about love and anger”

talk, talk of the town

(noun) idle gossip or rumor; “there has been talk about you lately”

lecture, public lecture, talk

(noun) a speech that is open to the public; “he attended a lecture on telecommunications”

lecture, talk

(verb) deliver a lecture or talk; “She will talk at Rutgers next week”; “Did you ever lecture at Harvard?”

talk, speak, utter, mouth, verbalize, verbalise

(verb) express in speech; “She talks a lot of nonsense”; “This depressed patient does not verbalize”

spill, talk

(verb) reveal information; “If you don’t oblige me, I’ll talk!”; “The former employee spilled all the details”

talk, speak

(verb) exchange thoughts; talk with; “We often talk business”; “Actions talk louder than words”

speak, talk

(verb) use language; “the baby talks already”; “the prisoner won’t speak”; “they speak a strange dialect”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology 1

Verb

talk (third-person singular simple present talks, present participle talking, simple past and past participle talked)

(intransitive) To communicate, usually by means of speech.

(transitive, informal) To discuss; to talk about.

(transitive) To speak (a certain language).

(transitive, informal, chiefly used in progressive tenses) Used to emphasise the importance, size, complexity etc. of the thing mentioned.

(intransitive, slang) To confess, especially implicating others.

(intransitive) To criticize someone for something of which one is guilty oneself.

(intransitive) To gossip; to create scandal.

(informal, chiefly used in progressive tenses) To influence someone to express something, especially a particular stance or viewpoint or in a particular manner.

Conjugation

See also: talkest, talketh

Synonyms

• See also talk

Coordinate terms

• listen

Etymology 2

Noun

talk (countable and uncountable, plural talks)

A conversation or discussion; usually serious, but informal.

A lecture.

(uncountable) Gossip; rumour.

(preceded by the; often qualified by a following of) A major topic of social discussion.

(preceded by the) A customary conversation by parent(s) or guardian(s) with their (often teenaged) child about a reality of life; in particular

A customary conversation in which parent(s) explain sexual intercourse to their child.

(US) A customary conversation in which the parent(s) of a black child explain the racism and violence they may face, especially when interacting with police, and strategies to manage it.

(uncountable, not preceded by an article) Empty boasting, promises or claims.

(usually plural) Meeting to discuss a particular matter.

Synonyms

• See also talk

• (meeting): conference, debate, discussion, meeting

Source: Wiktionary

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Talk, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Talked; p. pr. & vb. n. Talking.] Etym: [Cf. LG. talk talk, gabble, Prov. G. talken to speak indistinctly; or OD. tolken to interpret, MHG. tolkan to interpret, to tell, to speak indistinctly, Dan. tolke to interpret, Sw. tolka, Icel. t to interpret, t an interpreter, Lith. tulkas an interpreter, tulkanti, tulkoti, to interpret, Russ. tolkovate to interpret, to talk about; or perhaps fr. OE. talien to speak (see Tale, v. i. & n.).]

1. To utter words; esp., to converse familiarly; to speak, as in familiar discourse, when two or more persons interchange thoughts. I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you, walk with you, and so following, but I will not eat with you. Shak.

2. To confer; to reason; to consult. Let me talk with thee of thy judgments. Jer. xii. 1.

3. To prate; to speak impertinently. [Colloq.] To talk of, to relate; to tell; to give an account of; as, authors talk of the wonderful remains of Palmyra. "The natural histories of Switzerland talk much of the fall of these rocks, and the great damage done." Addison.

– To talk to, to advise or exhort, or to reprove gently; as, I will talk to my son respecting his conduct. [Colloq.]

Talk, v. t.

1. To speak freely; to use for conversing or communicating; as, to talk French.

2. To deliver in talking; to speak; to utter; to make a subject of conversation; as, to talk nonsense; to talk politics.

3. To consume or spend in talking; -- often followed by away; as, to talk away an evening.

4. To cause to be or become by talking. "They would talk themselves mad." Shak. To talk over. (a) To talk about; to have conference respecting; to deliberate upon; to discuss; as, to talk over a matter or plan. (b) To change the mind or opinion of by talking; to convince; as, to talk over an opponent.

Talk, n.

1. The act of talking; especially, familiar converse; mutual discourse; that which is uttered, especially in familiar conversation, or the mutual converse of two or more. In various talk the instructive hours they passed. Pope. Their talk, when it was not made up of nautical phrases, was too commonly made up of oaths and curses. Macaulay.

2. Report; rumor; as, to hear talk of war. I hear a talk up and down of raising our money. Locke.

3. Subject of discourse; as, his achievment is the talk of the town.

Syn.

– Conversation; colloquy; discourse; chat; dialogue; conference; communication. See Conversation.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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