talk

present singular third person talks · participle present talking · participle past talked · past talked · first person past singular talked · archaic present second person singular talkest · past second person singular talked · archaic past second person singular talkedst · present singular third person talks · archaic present singular third person talketh · past singular third person talked · past plural talked · past subjunctive talked · participle present talking · participle past talked · alternative obsolete talke

1. intransitiveTo communicate, usually by means of speech.

   Let's sit down and talk.

   5 more examples

   Although I don't speak Chinese, I managed to talk with the villagers using signs and gestures.

   I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you, walk with you, and so following, but I will not eat with you.

   c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii], page 166

   Then he commenced to talk, really talk. and inside of two flaps of a herring's fin he had me mesmerized, like Eben Holt's boy at the town hall show. He talked about the ills of humanity, and the glories of health and Nature and service and land knows what all. […] It was a chance he was offering me, a wonderful, eighteen carat, solid gold chance.

   1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter IV, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 99

   Mr. Campion appeared suitably impressed and she warmed to him. He was very easy to talk to with those long clown lines in his pale face, a natural goon, born rather too early she suspected.

   1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 5, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

   Let’s go to my office and talk. ― I like to talk with you, Ms. Weaver.

   2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

2. informaltransitiveTo discuss; to talk about.

   They sat down to talk business.

   1 more example

   That's enough about work, let's talk holidays!

3. transitiveTo speak (a certain language).

   We talk French sometimes.

4. informaltransitiveUsed to emphasise the importance, size, complexity etc. of the thing mentioned.

   Are you interested in the job? They're talking big money.

   1 more example

   We're not talking rocket science here: it should be easy.

5. intransitiveslangTo confess, especially implicating others.

   Suppose he talks?

   2 more examples

   She can be relied upon not to talk.

   They tried to make me talk.

6. intransitiveTo criticize someone for something of which one is guilty oneself.

   You should talk.

   3 more examples

   I am not the one to talk.

   She is a fine one to talk.

   Look who's talking.

7. intransitiveTo gossip; to create scandal.

   People will talk.

   1 more example

   Aren't you afraid the neighbours will talk?

8. transitiveTo manifest outwardly in speech, as opposed to reality or action.

   Remember that Christ and Christianity may not always be the same thing; e.g. Jerry Falwell talks "Christianity" but practices hatred […] which is diametrically opposed to what Jesus really taught.

   1979 December 22, S. J. Harris, “Life And Spirit”, in Gay Community News, volume 2, number 22, page 5

9. informalTo influence someone to express something, especially a particular stance or viewpoint or in a particular manner.

   That's not like you at all, Jared. The drugs are talking. Snap out of it!

   1 more example

   "So, are you going to give up all this good living and easy money and come fly for the Russians?" "Hello no. I told you that yesterday." "That was your wallet talking. The shooting has started. Now I appeal to your patriotism, your manhood, your sense of duty."

   2013, Stephen Coonts, Fortunes of War

plural talks

1. countableuncountableA conversation or discussion; usually serious, but informal.

   We need to have a talk about your homework.

   1 more example

   All this was extraordinarily distasteful to Churchill.[…]Never before had he felt such repulsion when the vicar displayed his characteristic bluntness or coarseness of speech. In the present connection—or rather as a transition from the subject that started their conversation—such talk had been distressingly out of place.

   1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXIV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, pages 198–199

2. countableuncountableA lecture.

   There is a talk on Shakespeare tonight.

3. uncountableGossip; rumour.

   There's been talk lately about the two of them.

4. countableuncountablepreceded by the; often qualified by a following of; preceded by the; often qualified by a following ofA major topic of social discussion.

   She is the talk of the day.

   1 more example

   The musical is the talk of the town.

5. A customary conversation by parent(s) or guardian(s) with their (often teenage) child about a reality of life; in particular:
   1. countableuncountablepreceded by theA customary conversation in which parent(s) explain sexual intercourse to their child.

      Have you had the talk with Jay yet? I found a condom in his room.

   2. UScountableuncountablepreceded by theA 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.

      Later, I made sure to have the talk with my son about being a black boy, […]

      2012, Crystal McCrary, Inspiration: Profiles of Black Women Changing Our World, →ISBN

      2 more examples

      All the black parents I have ever spoken to have had “the talk” with their sons and daughters. “The talk” is a conversation about how to behave and not to behave with police.

      2016, Jim Wallis, America's Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge, →ISBN

      Now, I was a black man in the South, and my folks had had “the talk” with me. No, not the one about the birds and bees. This one is about the black man and the police.

      2016, Stuart Scott, Larry Platt, Every Day I Fight, →ISBN, page 36

6. uncountableEmpty boasting, promises or claims.

   The party leader's speech was all talk.

7. countableplural normallyuncountableMeeting to discuss a particular matter.

   The leaders of the G8 nations are currently in talks over nuclear weapons.

   Synonyms: conference, debate, discussion, meeting