talk round

British  

verb

1. Also: talk over.  (tr, adverb) to persuade to one's opinion

   I talked him round to buying a car

2. (intr, preposition) to discuss the arguments relating to (a subject), esp without coming to a conclusion

   to talk round the problem of the human condition

3. (intr, preposition) to discuss (a subject) vaguely without considering basic facts

   they talked round the idea of moving house quite forgetting they hadn't enough money

---

Example Sentences

No wonder the idea of learning how to talk round a large mass of people was something that Athenian aristocrats—traditionally *So named, supposedly, because it met on a big rock above Athens.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

Members already aweary of ineffectual talk round foregone conclusion.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 150, January 26, 1916 by Seaman, Owen, Sir

But topics exhaust themselves and, at the last, I myself brought the talk round to the Fourth Dimension.

From The Inheritors by Conrad, Joseph

“He thinks a good deal about you, Jack, I fancy,” said I, anxious to steer the talk round in the required direction.

From My Friend Smith A Story of School and City Life by Reed, Talbot Baines

The trivial talk round the table took on the poignancy of matters already in the past.

From Treasure and Trouble Therewith A Tale of California by Bonner, Geraldine