chat

chat
chattable, adj.
/chat/, v., chatted, chatting, n.
v.i.
1. to converse in a familiar or informal manner.
v.t.
2. chat up, Chiefly Brit.
a. to talk flirtatiously with.
b. to talk to in a friendly, open way.
n.
3. informal conversation: We had a pleasant chat.
4. any of several small Old World thrushes, esp. of the genus Saxicola, having a chattering cry.
[1400-50; late ME; short for CHATTER]
Syn. 1, 3. talk, chitchat, gossip, visit.

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I
Any of several species of songbird named for their harsh, chattering notes.

True chats (chat-thrushes) make up a major division of the thrush family (Turdidae). Australian chats (usually placed in the family Maluridae), which inhabit scrubby open lands, are about 5 in. (13 cm) long. The yellow-breasted chat (Icteria virens, family Parulidae) of North America is the largest wood warbler (7.5 in., or 19 cm, long). Greenish gray above and bright yellow below, with white "spectacles," it hides in thickets but may perch in the open to utter its mewing, churring, and whistling sounds. See also redstart.

Yellow-breasted chat (Icteria virens)

Ron Austing
Bruce Coleman Inc.
II
Real-time conversation among computer users in a networked environment such as the Internet.

After a user types a text message and presses the Enter key, the text immediately appears on the other users' computers, permitting typed conversations that are often only somewhat slower than normal conversation. A chat can be private (between two users) or public (where other users can see the messages and participate if they wish). Public chatting is conducted in "chat rooms," Web sites devoted to chat, usually about a specific topic. The thousands of chat rooms now available typically use the IRC (Internet Relay Chat) protocol, developed in 1988 by Jarkko Oikarinen of Finland. See also bulletin-board system.

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bird
 any of several songbirds (suborder Passeres, order Passeriformes) named for their harsh, chattering notes.

      True chats make up a major division of the thrush family Turdidae (or subfamily Turdinae of the Muscicapidae); they are collectively grouped under chat-thrushes (q.v.).

      Australian chats are chiefly Epthianura species, usually placed in the family Maluridae but sometimes separated as the subfamily Epthianurinae (both groups are sometimes considered families). Nomadic inhabitants of scrubby open lands of the south, they feed on terrestrial insects. All are about 13 centimetres (5 inches) long. The white-faced chat (E. albifrons) is white and gray, with a black band from nape to breast (male); it is also called tang, from its metallic note.

      The yellow-breasted chat (Icteria virens) of North America is, at 19 cm (7 1/2 in.), the largest member of the wood-warbler family Parulidae—if in fact it belongs there. Greenish-gray above and bright yellow below, with white “spectacles” (sexes alike), it skulks in thickets but may perch in the open to utter its mewing, churring, and whistling sounds.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • chat — chat …   Dictionnaire des rimes

  • Chat — Chat …   Deutsch Wörterbuch

  • chat — chat, chatte (cha, cha t ; en conversation le t ne se lie que dans les phrases suivantes : chat échaudé craint l eau froide, dites : cha t échaudé ; acheter chat en poche, dites : cha t en poche ; jeter le chat aux jambes, dites : cha t aux… …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • Chat — (von englisch to chat [tʃæt] „plaudern, sich unterhalten“) bezeichnet elektronische Kommunikation in Echtzeit, meist über das Internet. Eine frühere Form des Chats gab es in den 80er Jahren über den CB Funk. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Formen 2… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Chat — may refer to: Contents 1 Conversation 2 Geography 3 Other uses 4 ChAT 5 CHAT …   Wikipedia

  • chat — CHAT, s. m. CHATTE, s. f. Animal domestique qui prend les rats et les souris. Gros chat. Chat noir, chat gris, etc. Chat d Espagne. Ce chat est bon aux souris, pour les souris. Chassez ce chat. Belle chatte. Votre chatte est pleine. [b]f♛/b] On… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française 1798

  • Chat — 〈[ tʃæ̣t] m. 6; EDV; umg.〉 1. Unterhaltung, Kommunikation (im Internet) 2. 〈kurz für〉 Chatroom 3. 〈allg.〉 Plauderei ● wir lernten uns im Chat kennen; sich zu einem kurzem Chat treffen [<engl. chat „Plauderei“] * * * Chat [t̮ʃæt ], der; s, s… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • chat — CHAT. s. m. Chatte. s. f. Animal domestique qui prend les rats & les souris. Gros chat. chat noir. chat gris &c. chat d Espagne. ce chat est bon aux souris. chassez ce chat. au chat, au chat. belle chatte, vostre chatte est pleine. On dit d Une… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • chat — [tʆæt] verb [intransitive] COMPUTING to have a conversation with other people on the Internet by typing in your words : • Chatting is one of the most popular activities on the Internet. chat noun [uncountable] : • Chat has its own jargon which is …   Financial and business terms

  • chat´ti|ly — chat|ty1 «CHAT ee», adjective, ti|er, ti|est. 1. fond of friendly, familiar talk about unimportant things: »The chatty old men played checkers and gossiped all afternoon. 2. having the style or manner of friendly familiar talk: »a chatty article… …   Useful english dictionary

  • chat|ty — chat|ty1 «CHAT ee», adjective, ti|er, ti|est. 1. fond of friendly, familiar talk about unimportant things: »The chatty old men played checkers and gossiped all afternoon. 2. having the style or manner of friendly familiar talk: »a chatty article… …   Useful english dictionary

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