Crossword clues for chatter
chatter
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Chatter \Chat"ter\, n.
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Sounds like those of a magpie or monkey; idle talk; rapid, thoughtless talk; jabber; prattle.
Your words are but idle and empty chatter.
--Longfellow. Noise made by collision of the teeth, as in shivering.
Chatter \Chat"ter\, v. t. To utter rapidly, idly, or indistinctly.
Begin his witless note apace to chatter.
--Spenser.
Chatter \Chat"ter\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Chattered; p. pr. & vb. n. Chattering.] [Of imitative origin. Cf. Chat, v. i. Chitter.]
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To utter sounds which somewhat resemble language, but are inarticulate and indistinct.
The jaw makes answer, as the magpie chatters.
--Wordsworth. -
To talk idly, carelessly, or with undue rapidity; to jabber; to prate.
To tame a shrew, and charm her chattering tongue.
--Shak. -
To make a noise by rapid collisions.
With chattering teeth, and bristling hair upright.
--Dryden.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
early 13c., chateren "to twitter, gossip," earlier cheateren, chiteren, of echoic origin. Compare Dutch koeteren "jabber," Danish kvidre "twitter, chirp." Related: Chattered; chattering. Phrase chattering class in use by 1893, with a reference perhaps from 1843:\n\nSuch was the most interesting side of the fatal event to that idle chattering class of London life to whom the collision of heaven and earth were important only as affording matter for "news!"
[Catherine Grace F. Gore ("Mrs. Gore"), "The Banker's Wife," 1843]
mid-13c., originally of birds, from chatter (v.).
Wiktionary
Etymology 1 n. 1 talk, especially meaningless or unimportant talk 2 the sound of talking 3 the sound made by a magpie 4 an intermittent noise, as from vibration 5 in national security, the degree of communication between suspect groups and individuals, used to gauge the degree of expected terrorist activity. vb. 1 (context intransitive English) To talk idly. 2 (context intransitive English) Of teeth, machinery, etc, to make a noise by rapid collisions. 3 To utter sounds which somewhat resemble language, but are inarticulate and indistinct. Etymology 2
n. 1 one who chats 2 (context Internet English) a user of chat rooms
WordNet
n. noisy talk [syn: yak, yack, yakety-yak, cackle]
the rapid series of noises made by the parts of a machine [syn: chattering]
the high-pitched continuing noise made by animals (birds or monkeys) [syn: chattering]
v. click repeatedly or uncontrollably; "Chattering teeth" [syn: click]
cut unevenly with a chattering tool
talk socially without exchanging too much information; "the men were sitting in the cafe and shooting the breeze" [syn: chew the fat, shoot the breeze, chat, confabulate, confab, chitchat, chaffer, natter, gossip, jaw, claver, visit]
speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantly [syn: piffle, palaver, prate, tittle-tattle, twaddle, clack, maunder, prattle, blab, gibber, tattle, blabber, gabble]
make noise as if chattering away; "The magpies were chattering in the trees"
Wikipedia
Chatter may refer to:
- Chatter (machining) or machining vibrations
- Contact bounce or chatter, a common problem with mechanical switches and relays
- Chatter (signals intelligence), the volume of communication to or from suspected terrorists or spies
- Project CHATTER (1947–53), a U.S. Navy truth serum project
- Chatter, a group communication tool from Salesforce.com
Chatter is a signals intelligence term, referring to the volume (quantity) of intercepted communications. Intelligence officials, not having better metrics, monitor the volume of communication, to or from suspected parties such as terrorists or spies, to determine whether there is cause for alarm. They refer to the electronic communication as "chatter".
Monitoring chatter is an example of traffic analysis, a sub-field of signals intelligence. Intelligence specialists hope to learn significant information by methodically monitoring when and with whom suspects communicate. Even if they cannot decrypt what suspects are saying to one another, a change in the volume of traffic may raise alarm, since a large increase may indicate increased preparation for action, while a sudden decrease may indicate the end of planning and the imminence of action. These considerations do not apply when the targets of analysis follow the military practice of maintaining a steady flow of encrypted communications whether they are needed or not.
Some events, including the capture of the " Algerian Six", were triggered largely by an increase in "chatter".
Usage examples of "chatter".
Even there, amid the chatter and laughter of those light-hearted tourists, the shadow of Hassan of Aleppo was falling upon me.
Cerys chattered away about life at the school and Alyce mostly just listened, though it did give her a somewhat better idea what to expect.
At breakfast, Amri, happily chattering, mentioned that Zed was not in the house.
The air was still, except for the rippling sound of the water, the distant chatter of the women, the snores of the Angakok, and the buzzing of mosquitoes!
Amorites, Aramaeans, Elamites, Kassites, Lulubaeans, and Hittites move among the crowds chattering in little groups.
And when the plants chattered among themselves, Attalea was always silent, thinking longingly how good it would be to stand under that sky, pallid and sickly though it was.
His hands shook as he punched in an autodial number on his cell phone, and it was only by clenching his teeth together that he kept them from chattering.
We drifted back out of the maze via another route, keeping up the chatter as cover.
Another door and I was in the backstage area, fighting my way through a pack of sweating, chattering chorus girls.
He was mesmerized by the chatter between aircraft as Backstop One and Two rendezvoused with Icewall.
A groom led the ponies and the two nursemaids formed a chattering rear guard The road Richard chose sloped gently down towards the river, levelling out where the Balmoral bank sloped steeply down to the waterside.
The heavy rhythm of drums and berimbau coming from the direction of the river fused with the chattering wildlife in the trees.
Squirrels chattered an alarm, a pair of bobwhites exploded into flight at my feet, and, from further up the ridge, a dog greeted me with sharp, welcoming barks.
The bonesetter chattered cheerfully at me, and I did not realize what she was about until she took my left arm and wrenched it sharply round.
All the driver boys on that level gathered at the head of the plane to eat their dinners, and, during the noon-hour, the place was alive with shouts and songs and pranks and chattering without limit.