释义 |
chat1 /tʃat /verb (chats, chatting, chatted) [no object]1Talk in a friendly and informal way: she chatted to her mother on the phone every day...- The giant woman sat with them for a while, bartering and chatting in a friendly and motherly way.
- Minutes before he arrived, Charlotte had been sober, and was chatting to her friend.
- At home she likes it cosy: snuggling up on a sofa with a book, chatting to friends.
Synonyms talk, gossip, chatter, chitter-chatter, speak, converse, have a conversation, engage in conversation, tittle-tattle, prattle, jabber, jibber-jabber, babble, prate, go on, run on; communicate; British talk nineteen to the dozen; Scottish & Irish slabber informal gas, have a confab, jaw, chew the rag, chew the fat, yap, yak, yackety-yak, yabber, gabber, yatter, yammer, powwow British informal natter, witter, rabbit, chunter, waffle, have a chinwag, chinwag North American informal shoot the breeze, shoot the bull, visit Australian/New Zealand informal mag formal confabulate archaic twaddle, twattle, clack, claver 1.1Exchange messages online in real time with one or more simultaneous users of a computer network: I have chatted to a few women on the Net...- Unable to meet their friends in person, they chat online instead.
- Nor is inflection, tone or humour easily communicated by texting, chatting or email.
- He spends two to three hours a day chatting.
noun1An informal conversation: he dropped in for a chat [mass noun]: that’s enough chat for tonight...- There have been many similar wine-fuelled conversations, conspiratorial chats over coffee, or long-winded email dialogues.
- How do they like to communicate - by e-mail, voicemail or an informal chat when you drop by their office?
- Last week you were having cosy, informal chats in their office, now you're getting the brush-off whenever you try to instigate a meeting.
Synonyms talk, conversation, gossip, chatter, chitter-chatter, heart-to-heart, tête-à-tête, powwow, blether, blather; conference, discussion, dialogue, exchange; Indian adda informal jaw, gas, confab, gabber British informal natter, chinwag, rabbit Scottish & Northern English informal crack North American informal rap, bull session, gabfest Australian informal convo formal confabulation rare colloquy 1.1The online exchange of messages in real time with one or more simultaneous users of a computer network: online chat has been widely accepted by average Internet users [count noun]: you can have four simultaneous chats online at once...- Unlike e-mail, which can cost up to 85% less than a phone call, chat doesn't save much.
- MSN Messenger 4.7 (which comes standard with Windows XP) does not log chats.
- Provide multiple ways (1-800 number, email, live chat) to connect with your company.
Phrasal verbsOriginMiddle English: shortening of chatter. In medieval times chat was formed as a shorter version of chatter, which itself started life as an imitation of the sound made by people chatting away, rather as jabber (Late Middle English) and twitter (Late Middle English) imitated the sound they described. The chattering classes are liberal, well-educated people, often working in the media, who are fond of expressing their views on any and every subject. This name for them has been around since at least the early 1980s. The success of the website called Twitter has led to heated debate among users as to whether what they do should be called to twitter or to tweet (mid 19th century)—yet another word imitating the sound of birds. See also jargon
Rhymesat, bat, brat, cat, cravat, drat, expat, fat, flat, frat, gat, gnat, hat, hereat, high-hat, howzat, lat, mat, matt, matte, Montserrat, Nat, outsat, pat, pit-a-pat, plait, plat, prat, Rabat, rat, rat-tat, Sadat, sat, scat, Sebat, shabbat, shat, skat, slat, spat, splat, sprat, stat, Surat, tat, that, thereat, tit-for-tat, vat, whereat chat2 /tʃat /noun1 [often in combination] A small Old World songbird of the thrush family, with black, white, and brown coloration and a harsh call.- Saxicola and other genera, family Turdidae: numerous species. See also bushchat, stonechat, whinchat.
Old World warblers and chats are an excellent representative system to test these hypotheses....- I also caught the only Kentucky Warbler of the day, a Yellow-breasted Chat.
2 [with modifier] Any of a number of small songbirds with harsh calls:- A New World warbler that typically has a yellow or pink breast (genera Icteria and Granatellus, family Parulidae). An Australian songbird related to the honeyeaters, the male of which is either mainly yellow or boldly marked (genera Ephthianura and Ashbyia, family Ephthianuridae)..
I could wait until late May and maybe find a mourning warbler or a yellow-breasted chat....- Breeding productivity for riparian associated songbirds (e.g., Song Sparrow, Yellow Warbler, and Yellow-breasted Chat) are at levels high enough to maintain viable populations.
OriginLate 17th century: probably imitative of its call. |