chat

[chat]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR chat ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), chat·ted, chat·ting.

to converse in a familiar or informal manner.

Digital Technology. to participate with one or more people, through the Internet, in a real-time conversation, typically as a series of short text exchanges in a specific application, as instant messaging, or by using images, voice, video, or some combination of these: The kids were able to chat with their grandma online. Join our online community to chat about TV shows.

noun

informal conversation: We had a pleasant chat.

Digital Technology. a real-time conversation, as between two or more people or between a representative of a business and a customer, over the Internet or other network: Join our free video chat.See also instant messaging, chat room.

any of several small Old World thrushes, especially of the genus Saxicola, having a chattering cry.

yellow-breasted chat.

adjective

Digital Technology. noting or relating to an online chat: a chat session.

Verb Phrases

chat up, Chiefly British.

to talk flirtatiously with.
to talk to in a friendly, open way.

Origin of chat

1400–50; late Middle English; short for chatter

Related formschat·ta·ble, adjective

Synonyms for chat

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR chat ON THESAURUS.COM

1, 3. talk, chitchat, gossip, visit.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for chatted

chatter, prate, cackle, babble, jaw, converse, burble, yap, prattle, blab, gab

Examples from the Web for chatted

Contemporary Examples of chatted

He chatted with them, and they eventually sent him the first few scripts.
Charles Dance on Tywin Lannister’s S5 Return, A ‘Game of Thrones’ Movie,’ and Sexy Peter Dinklage
Marlow Stern
November 18, 2014
In one of the moments I chatted briefly with him he made a quip about my work that my mother still quotes to this day.
From POTUS to SCOTUS: Obama’s Big Move?
Keli Goff
November 17, 2014
We chatted with Samberg about all of that, bad wedding toasts, Billy Joel karaoke, and more.
Imagine Andy Samberg as Your Best Man
Kevin Fallon
September 29, 2014
We chatted about the crazy rehearsal process and how much dancing you do all day.
'So You Think You Can Dance' Winner Ricky Ubeda Is Adorable, and Tired
Kevin Fallon
September 4, 2014
Baffled by the jargon-heavy consumer information manual, I chatted with Cheryl Luptowski from the NSF consumer affairs office.
Are Water Filters B.S.?
Michael Schulson
August 19, 2014

Historical Examples of chatted

I remarked one evening, as I chatted with Marguerite and her chaperone.
City of Endless Night
Milo Hastings
We sat and chatted a while, and then Clara and I went out to look at the Jungfrau.
Wilfrid Cumbermede
George MacDonald
And so, over this collation, we chatted for quite all of an hour.
Ruggles of Red Gap
Harry Leon Wilson
We chatted for a time of home politics, which was, of course, in a wretched state.
Ruggles of Red Gap
Harry Leon Wilson
And with that they chatted about the marriage from the male point of view.
Nana, The Miller's Daughter, Captain Burle, Death of Olivier Becaille
Emile Zola

British Dictionary definitions for chatted

chat

noun

informal conversation or talk conducted in an easy familiar manner

the exchange of messages in an internet or other network chatroom

any Old World songbird of the subfamily Turdinae (thrushes, etc) having a harsh chattering crySee also stonechat, whinchat

any of various North American warblers, such as Icteria virens (yellow-breasted chat)

any of various Australian wrens (family Muscicapidae) of the genus Ephthianura and other genera

verb chats, chatting or chatted (intr)

to talk in an easy familiar way

to exchange messages in a chatroom

Word Origin for chat

C16: short for chatter

chat

noun

archaic, or dialect a catkin, esp a willow catkin

Word Origin for chat

C15: from French chat cat, referring to the furry appearance

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for chatted

chat

1520s, "chatter, frivolous talk;" see chat (v.). Meaning "familiar conversation" is from 1570s. Chat show, for what in U.S. is a talk show, attested from 1969. Chat room in the online sense is attested by 1994, from the days when AOL ruled the Web.

chat

mid-15c., "talk idly, babble," short for chatter (v.). Meaning "to converse familiarly" is from 1550s. Sense of "flirt with, ingratiate oneself with" (in later use often with up (adv.)) is from 1898. Related: Chatted; chatting.