talk.
To communicate, usually by means of speech.
Meaning & usage
To communicate, usually by means of speech.
Let's sit down and talk.
Although I don't speak Chinese, I managed to talk with the villagers using signs and gestures.
To discuss; to talk about.
They sat down to talk business.
That's enough about work, let's talk holidays!
To speak (a certain language).
We talk French sometimes.
Used to emphasise the importance, size, complexity etc. of the thing mentioned.
Are you interested in the job? They're talking big money.
We're not talking rocket science here: it should be easy.
To confess, especially implicating others.
Suppose he talks?
She can be relied upon not to talk.
To criticize someone for something of which one is guilty oneself.
I am not the one to talk.
She is a fine one to talk.
To gossip; to create scandal.
People will talk.
Aren't you afraid the neighbours will talk?
To manifest outwardly in speech, as opposed to reality or action.
To influence someone to express something, especially a particular stance or viewpoint or in a particular manner.
That's not like you at all, Jared. The drugs are talking. Snap out of it!
Where this word comes from
From Middle English talken, talkien, from Old English *tealcian (“to talk, chat”), from Proto-West Germanic *talkōn, from Proto-Germanic *talkōną (“to talk, chatter”), frequentative form of Proto-Germanic *talōną (“to count, recount, tell”), from Proto-Indo-European *dol-, *del- (“to aim, calculate, adjust, count”), equivalent to tell + -k. Cognates Cognate with Low German taalken (“to chatter, gossip, talk”). Related also to Bavarian zoin (“to pay”), Cimbrian zaln (“to pay”), Dutch talen (“to care, long; to speak; to say”), German zahlen (“to pay”), Mòcheno zoln (“to pay”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål tale (“to talk, speak”), Faroese, Icelandic, and Swedish tala (“to speak, talk”), Norwegian Nynorsk tala (“to speak, talk”); also Latin dolus (“deceit, deception, fraud, guile, treachery, trickery; malice; artifice, device, stratagem”), Ancient Greek δόλος (dólos, “deceit, trick; wiles; bait”), Armenian տող (toġ, “line (in a text)”). More at tale. Despite the surface similarity, unrelated to Proto-Indo-European *telkʷ- (“to talk”) (due to Grimm's law), which is the source of loquacious.
A conversation or discussion; usually serious, but informal.
We need to have a talk about your homework.
A lecture.
There is a talk on Shakespeare tonight.
Gossip; rumour.
There's been talk lately about the two of them.
A major topic of social discussion.
She is the talk of the day.
The musical is the talk of the town.
A customary conversation by parent(s) or guardian(s) with their (often teenage) child about a reality of life; in particular: A customary conversation in which parent(s) explain sexual intercourse to their child.
Have you had the talk with Jay yet? I found a condom in his room.
A customary conversation by parent(s) or guardian(s) with their (often teenage) child about a reality of life; in particular: A customary conversation in which the parent(s) of a black child explain the racism and violence they may face, especially when interacting with police, and strategies to manage it.
Empty boasting, promises or claims.
The party leader's speech was all talk.
Meeting to discuss a particular matter.
The leaders of the G8 nations are currently in talks over nuclear weapons.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English talk, talke (“conversation; discourse”), from the verb (see above).
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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.