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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
palaver
noun
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ There's been a lot of palaver about feminist oversensitivity to language.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Between them all, they managed to get Liam to the house, the twins being much amused by all the palaver.
▪ Budget palaver and acute short-termism seem to go hand in hand.
▪ Can't have this sort of palaver going on, not here.
▪ For all the palaver about men playing full parenting roles, fathers desire, seek, contrive and protect their anonymity.
▪ If you can't be bothered with any of this palaver, buy a whole fillet of beef.
▪ Will they view it as an opportunity to attack their opponents or deliver empty palaver?
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Palaver

Palaver \Pa*la"ver\, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Palavered; p. pr. & vb. n. Palavering.] To make palaver with, or to; to used palaver; to talk idly or deceitfully; to employ flattery; to cajole; as, to palaver artfully.

Palavering the little language for her benefit.
--C. Bront['e]

Palaver

Palaver \Pa*la"ver\, n. [Sp. palabra, or Pg. palavra, fr. L. parabola a comparison, a parable, LL., a word. See Parable.]

  1. Talk; conversation; esp., idle or beguiling talk; talk intended to deceive; flattery.

  2. In Africa, a parley with the natives; a talk; hence, a public conference and deliberation; a debate.

    This epoch of parliaments and eloquent palavers.
    --Carlyle.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
palaver

1733 (implied in palavering), "talk, conference, discussion," sailors' slang, from Portuguese palavra "word, speech, talk," traders' term for "negotiating with the natives" in West Africa, metathesis of Late Latin parabola "speech, discourse," from Latin parabola "comparison" (see parable). Meaning "idle talk" first recorded 1748. The verb is 1733, from the noun. Related: Palavering.\n

Wiktionary
palaver

n. 1 (context Africa English) A village council meeting, a folkmoot 2 talk, especially unnecessary talk, fuss. 3 A meeting at which there is much talk; a debate, a moot. 4 (context informal English) disagreement vb. To discuss with much talk.

WordNet
palaver
  1. n. flattery intended to persuade [syn: blandishment, cajolery]

  2. loud and confused and empty talk; "mere rhetoric" [syn: hot air, empty words, empty talk, rhetoric]

  3. v. speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantly [syn: chatter, piffle, prate, tittle-tattle, twaddle, clack, maunder, prattle, blab, gibber, tattle, blabber, gabble]

  4. influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering; "He palavered her into going along" [syn: wheedle, cajole, blarney, coax, sweet-talk, inveigle]

  5. have a lengthy discussion, usually between people of different backgrounds

Wikipedia
Palaver (film)

Palaver is a 1969 Belgian fantasy film directed by Emile Degelin. The film was entered into the 6th Moscow International Film Festival. The film was selected as the Belgian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 42nd Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.

Palaver

Palaver may refer to:

  • Palaver, from palavra, List of English words of Portuguese origin

Usage examples of "palaver".

Palaver said as he led Morg and Whort down a low, dark, odiferous tunnel, is to face the fear that produced the affectation, while at the same time indigesting a special formulaof which I am the inventor and which should evacuate the speak glands.

She hated the palaver Hermione made, she wanted to drink tea, she wanted anything but this fuss and business.

The decision to go to Arizona ripened exceedingly slowly and was forced along to maturity by acres of pseudophilosophical palaver.

Rebuzzed, replacing a bolt on her thigh, she whistles in a high, shrill gulp of air, smiles wanly, then bursts into a high-frequency palaver, computerese elocution eventually hitting the cue of my own dialect.

Unfortunately, I now realize the whole point of the aloof over-made-up ice-queen on anticellulite diet palaver was to make Daniel realize the error of his ways.

Of course, neither she nor Charlie had been in on the palavers of the high muckety-mucks.

He and Miss Cardle were convinced that she was an artful humbugger, bent on insinuating herself into my lady’s and Miss Hetta’s good graces by palavering them, and playing off all manner of cajoleries.

He palavered with elders of the town, and then with several folk who were summoned forward from the crowd.

Or perhaps it was here, watching them even as they palavered and Nigel returned with various writing implements.

Jake looked hard at the place where Andy and Ben Slightman had palavered, marking it in his memory.

They palavered in that damned singsong tongue of theirs, then conducted me to the palace of the Emperor's Hand.

I gather there was a lot of palavering going on, but about what I had no idea at the time.

Thank God they'd done most of their palavering on the porch, or outside on the lawn.

Thank God they’d done most of their palavering on the porch, or outside on the lawn.

We did some palavering, but I had my eyes on a buckskin pony I saw tethered near their lodges.