“chatting” is a form of
chat
/ˈt͡ʃæt/ verb, noun, interjection, proper noun
Forms chats chatting chatted chatt
- verb To be engaged in informal conversation. “She chatted with her friend in the cafe.”
- verb To talk a while in a friendly manner. “I met my old friend in the street, so we chatted for a while.”
- verb (transitive) To talk of; to discuss. “They chatted politics for a while.”
- verb (informal, slang, often as chatting) To chat shit (to speak nonsense, to lie). “Don't listen to me, I'm chatting.”
- verb To exchange text or voice messages in real time through a computer network such as a social media chat room or messaging application (as if having a face-to-face conversation instead of SMS or writing emails or letters). “Do you want to chat online later?”
- noun (countable, uncountable) Informal conversation. “It'd be cool to meet up again soon and have a quick chat.”
- noun (countable, uncountable) An exchange of text or voice messages in real time through a computer network, resembling a face-to-face conversation. “Internet Relay Chat”
- noun (Internet, uncountable, with or without "the") A chat room, especially (in later use) one accompanying a videoconference or live stream. “"Type yes in (the) chat if you can hear me."”
- noun (metonymic, originally video games) The entirety of users, viewed collectively, in a chat room, especially the chat room accompanying a live stream. “The chat just made a joke about my poor skillz.”
- noun (by extension, nonstandard, humorous) Familiar term of address for users on social media other than a chat room, as in "guys."
- noun (countable) Any of various small Old World passerine birds in the muscicapid tribe Saxicolini or subfamily Saxicolinae that feed on insects.
- noun (countable) Any of several small Australian honeyeaters in the genus Epthianura.
- interjection (informal, humorous, originally Twitch-speak) Used to introduce a question, to address all the other people present. “Chat, is this real?”
- noun A small potato, such as is given to swine.
- noun (mining, local use) Mining waste from lead and zinc mines.
- noun (UK, Australia, New Zealand, World War I military slang) A louse (small, parasitic insect).
- proper noun (slang) ChatGPT.
Synonyms
confab discourse parley common confabulate conversate converse convo jaw treat word bespeak moot talk about bechat confer betalk discuss talk over visit confabulation schmooze schmoose New World chat Old World chat chew the fat shoot the breeze chitchat chit-chat chatter
Etymology
Clipping of chatter. The bird sense refers to the sound of its call.
Compare chit (“small piece of paper”), and chad.
Unknown.
From thieves' cant.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To talk in a light and familiar manner; to converse without form or ceremony; to gossip. Shak.
- verb To talk of. [Obs.]
- noun Light, familiar talk; conversation; gossip.
- noun A bird of the genus Icteria, allied to the warblers, in America. The best known species are the yelow-breasted chat (I. viridis), and the long chat (I. longicauda). In Europe the name is given to several birds of the family Saxicolidæ, as the stonechat, and whinchat. Bush chat. (Zoöl.) See under Bush.
Etymology [From Chatter. *22.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “chat”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details