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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

chat.

To be engaged in informal conversation.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ˈt͡ʃæt/General-American, Received-Pronunciation
  1. To be engaged in informal conversation.

    She chatted with her friend in the cafe.
    I like to chat over a coffee with a friend.
  2. To talk a while in a friendly manner.

    I met my old friend in the street, so we chatted for a while.
  3. To talk of; to discuss.

    transitive
    They chatted politics for a while.
  4. To chat shit (to speak nonsense, to lie).

    informal · often · slang
    Don't listen to me, I'm chatting.
  5. 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?
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Middle English cheteren, chiteren (Imitative)der. Middle English chateren English chatterclip. English chat Clipping of chatter. The bird sense refers to the sound of its call.

noun/ˈt͡ʃæt/General-American, Received-Pronunciation
  1. Informal conversation.

    countable · uncountable
    It'd be cool to meet up again soon and have a quick chat.
  2. An exchange of text or voice messages in real time through a computer network, resembling a face-to-face conversation.

    countable · uncountable
    Internet Relay Chat
  3. A chat room, especially (in later use) one accompanying a videoconference or live stream.

    Internet · uncountable
    "Type yes in (the) chat if you can hear me."
  4. A chat room, especially (in later use) one accompanying a videoconference or live stream. The entirety of users, viewed collectively, in a chat room, especially the chat room accompanying a live stream.

    Internet · countable · metonymically · uncountable
    The chat just made a joke about my poor skillz.
    "Chat, should I pick up this sword before heading out?"
  5. A chat room, especially (in later use) one accompanying a videoconference or live stream. Familiar term of address for users on social media other than a chat room, as in "guys."

    Internet · broadly · countable · humorous · nonstandard · uncountable
  6. Any of various small Old World passerine birds in the muscicapid tribe Saxicolini or subfamily Saxicolinae that feed on insects.

    countable
  7. Any of several small Australian honeyeaters in the genus Epthianura.

    countable
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Middle English cheteren, chiteren (Imitative)der. Middle English chateren English chatterclip. English chat Clipping of chatter. The bird sense refers to the sound of its call.

intj/ˈt͡ʃæt/General-American, Received-Pronunciation
  1. Used to introduce a question, to address all the other people present.

    humorous · informal
    Chat, is this real?
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Middle English cheteren, chiteren (Imitative)der. Middle English chateren English chatterclip. English chat Clipping of chatter. The bird sense refers to the sound of its call.

noun/ˈt͡ʃæt/General-American, Received-Pronunciation
  1. A small potato, such as is given to swine.

Where this word comes from

Compare chit (“small piece of paper”), and chad.

noun/ˈt͡ʃæt/General-American, Received-Pronunciation
  1. Mining waste from lead and zinc mines.

    regional
Where this word comes from

Unknown.

noun/ˈt͡ʃæt/General-American, Received-Pronunciation
  1. A louse (small, parasitic insect).

    Australia · New-Zealand · UK · World-War-I · slang
Where this word comes from

From thieves' cant.

noun/ˈt͡ʃæt/General-American, Received-Pronunciation
  1. Alternative form of chaat.

    alt-of · alternative
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.