natter
/ˈnatə
/informal
verb [no object]
Talk casually, especially on unimportant matters; chat: they nattered away for hours...
- Around her, they chattered, nattered, muttered… and laughed.
- Iain's dad and I work together, so no doubt we will be nattering about England's progress at every opportunity.
- And the two young ladies kept on nattering on about hair fashion all the time pretending not to see an old man standing close by.
noun [in singular]
A casual and leisurely conversation: I could do with a drink and a natter...
- At one point I was worried Ronnie wasn't going to recover and I would go round to Stephanie's and have a good cry or a natter.
- ‘I'm not stopping,’ chirrups the visitor who settles down for a cuppa and a natter with her coat on.
- He used to go to Beckhill Working Men's Club and have a natter with Donald because he knew what nights he went there.
Derivatives
natterer
/ noun ...- Des is a self-confessed natterer who is seldom lost for words, but when it came to asking partner Margaret to marry him he suddenly got tongue-tied.
Origin
Early 19th century (in the dialect sense 'grumble, fret'): imitative.
Rhymes
- descale
- descaler
- descamisado
- descant
- descant clef
- descanter
- descant recorder
- descant viol
- Descartes, René
- descend
- descendability
- descendable
- descendance
- descendancy
- descendant
- descendency
- descendent
- descendental
- descendentalism
- descender
- descendeur
- descendibility
- descendible
- descending colon
- descending diphthong