talk
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To say things to someone, using speech.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
tawkIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtɔk
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
intransitive
To communicate, usually by means of speech.
Express in speech
“She talks a lot of nonsense.”
transitive
To speak (a certain language).
intransitive
To gossip; to create scandal.
transitive
To manifest outwardly in speech, as opposed to reality or action.
informalchiefly used in progressive tenses
To influence someone to express something, especially a particular stance or viewpoint or in a particular manner.
noun
Discussion; (`talk about' is a less formal alternative for `discussion of')
“His poetry contains much talk about love and anger.”
An exchange of ideas via conversation
“Let's have more work and less talk around here.”
A conversation or discussion; usually serious, but informal.
A lecture.
Idle gossip or rumor
“There has been talk about you lately.”
uncountable
Gossip; rumour.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An exchange of ideas via conversation
Used this way, talk is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“Let's have more work and less talk around here.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Expressverb
“She talks a lot of nonsense.”
Discussionnoun
“His poetry contains much talk about love and anger.”
Exchangenoun
“Let's have more work and less talk around here.”
Idlenoun
“There has been talk about you lately.”
More ways to use talk
- “His poetry contains much talk about love and anger.”noun
- “She talks a lot of nonsense.”verb
- “She will talk at Rutgers next week.”verb
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
A discussion intended to produce an agreement.
An exchange of ideas via conversation.
Someone who expresses in language.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Idle gossip or rumor.
Persuade someone not to do something.
Speak with others about (something).
Discuss matters that are related to work.
A program during which well-known people discuss a topic or answer questions telephoned in by the audience.
Discuss the terms of an arrangement.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: discussion
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.