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Definition of "chatter" []

  • To talk rapidly, incessantly, and on trivial subjects; jabber. (verb-intransitive)
  • To utter a rapid series of short, inarticulate, speechlike sounds: birds chattering in the trees. (verb-intransitive)
  • To click quickly and repeatedly: Our teeth chattered from the cold. (verb-intransitive)
  • To vibrate or rattle while in operation: A power drill will chatter if the bit is loose. (verb-intransitive)
  • To utter in a rapid, usually thoughtless way: chattered a long reply. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "chatter" in a sentence
  • "This chatter is all well and good, but the fact is while the Europeans played well Saturday, better than the Americans, they didn't make up all that much ground."
  • "BLITZER: Is there increased what they call chatter right now around this anniversary of 9/11 that is causing experts counterterrorism experts in the U.S. government a little bit more heightened concerned?"
  • "M. O'BRIEN: And you know, of course, the intelligence agencies of the world are constantly dialed into what they call the chatter on this sort of thing."