chattern.1
/ˈtʃatə/, U.S. /ˈtʃædər/ 1. The chattering of certain birds; also of apes, etc.: see the verb.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by noises > voice or sound made by animal > [noun]
chirma800
songOE
chattera1250
cryc1300
languagec1350
notea1400
call1584
gabblea1616
clamour1719
call note1802
vocalization1829
dialect1921
the world > animals > birds > sound or bird defined by > [noun] > twitter or chirp
chattera1250
twit1602
twitter1709
twit1769
chirrup1830
churr1837
tweet1837
chipper1844
chirp1850
chitter1869
a1250 Owl & Nightingale 284 Mid chavling and mid chatere.
1784–99 W. Cowper Pairing Time 15 And with much twitter, and much chatter, Began to agitate the matter.
1797 R. Beilby & T. Bewick Hist. Brit. Birds I. 96 Its note of anger is very loud and harsh, between a chatter and a shriek.
2. Incessant talk of a trivial kind; prate, tattle.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > loquacity or talkativeness > [noun] > chatter
chirma800
clappingc1386
glavera1400
clapa1420
clackc1440
blabc1460
clattera1500
babble?a1525
babblery1532
pratery1533
clitter-clatter1535
by-talk?1551
prattle1555
prittle-prattle1556
twittle-twattle1565
cacquet1567
prate?1574
prattlement1579
babblement1595
gibble-gabble1600
gabble1602
twattlea1639
tolutiloquence1656
pratement1657
gaggle1668
leden1674
cackle1676
twit-twat1677
clash1685
chit-chat1710
chatter-chitter1711
chitter-chatter1712
palavering1732
hubble-bubble1735
palaver1748
rattle1748
gum1751
mag1778
gabber1780
gammon1781
gash1787
chattery1789
gabber1792
whitter-whatter1805
yabble1808
clacket1812
talky-talky1812
potter1818
yatter1827
blue streak1830
gabblement1831
psilologya1834
chin-music1834
patter1841
jaw1842
chatter1851
brabble1861
tongue-work1866
yacker1882
talkee1885
chelp1891
chattermag1895
whitter1897
burble1898
yap1907
clatfart1913
jive1928
logorrhœa1935
waffle1937
yackety-yacking1953
yack1958
yackety-yack1958
motormouth1976
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > absence of meaning > nonsense, rubbish > empty, idle talk > [noun]
windc1290
trotevalea1300
follyc1300
jangle1340
jangleryc1374
tongue1382
fablec1384
clapa1420
babbling?c1430
clackc1440
pratinga1470
waste?a1475
clattera1500
trattle1513
babble?a1525
tattlea1529
tittle-tattlea1529
chatc1530
babblery1532
bibble-babble1532
slaverings1535
trittle-trattle1563
prate?1574
babblement1595
pribble-prabble1595
pribble1603
morologya1614
pibble-pabblea1616
sounda1616
spitter-spatter1619
argology1623
vaniloquence1623
vaniloquy1623
drivelling1637
jabberment1645
blateration1656
onology1670
whittie-whattiea1687
stultiloquence1721
claver1722
blether1786
havera1796
jaunder1796
havering1808
slaver1825
yatter1827
bugaboo1833
flapdoodle1834
bavardage1835
maunder1835
tattlement1837
slabber1840
gup1848
faddle1850
chatter1851
cock1851
drivel1852
maundering1853
drooling1854
windbaggery1859
blither1866
javer1869
mush1876
slobber1886
guff1888
squit1893
drool1900
macaroni1924
jive1928
natter1943
shtick1948
old talk1956
yack1958
yackety-yack1958
ole talk1964
Haigspeak1981
1851 H. W. Longfellow Golden Legend vi. 264 Your words are but idle and empty chatter.
1856 R. W. Emerson Eng. Traits xiii. 226 The chatter of French politics..had quite put most of the old legends out of mind.
3. The vibration of a tool (see also quot. 1904). Cf. chatter v. 4.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine tool > [noun] > vibration of
chatter1893
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine tool > [noun] > vibration of > marks caused by
utters1853
chatter-mark1888
chatter1893
1893 [see chatter-mark n. at Compounds 2].
1904 G. F. Goodchild & C. F. Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 99/2 Chatter, the waviness produced on the surface of work by vibration of the tool, etc.
1964 Times Rev. Industry Apr. 91/1 Machine tool chatter, a vibration which shortens tool life, spoils surface finish and reduces machining accuracy.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
chatter-house n.
ΚΠ
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. vi. xxvi. 234/2 A Chatter-house for women to meet and determine of their Attires.
C2. † chatter-chitter n. Obsolete small talk, gossip (cf. chitter-chatter n.).
chatter-bag n. dialect variant of chatterbox n.
ΚΠ
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. at Chatter-bag He's a chatter-bag sort a fuller—never can't get much sense out o' un.
chatter-basket n. = chatter-bag n.
ΚΠ
1875 Lanc. Gloss. Chatter-basket, an incessant talker; gen. applied to a child.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > loquacity or talkativeness > [noun] > chatter
chirma800
clappingc1386
glavera1400
clapa1420
clackc1440
blabc1460
clattera1500
babble?a1525
babblery1532
pratery1533
clitter-clatter1535
by-talk?1551
prattle1555
prittle-prattle1556
twittle-twattle1565
cacquet1567
prate?1574
prattlement1579
babblement1595
gibble-gabble1600
gabble1602
twattlea1639
tolutiloquence1656
pratement1657
gaggle1668
leden1674
cackle1676
twit-twat1677
clash1685
chit-chat1710
chatter-chitter1711
chitter-chatter1712
palavering1732
hubble-bubble1735
palaver1748
rattle1748
gum1751
mag1778
gabber1780
gammon1781
gash1787
chattery1789
gabber1792
whitter-whatter1805
yabble1808
clacket1812
talky-talky1812
potter1818
yatter1827
blue streak1830
gabblement1831
psilologya1834
chin-music1834
patter1841
jaw1842
chatter1851
brabble1861
tongue-work1866
yacker1882
talkee1885
chelp1891
chattermag1895
whitter1897
burble1898
yap1907
clatfart1913
jive1928
logorrhœa1935
waffle1937
yackety-yacking1953
yack1958
yackety-yack1958
motormouth1976
1711 Wentworth Papers 207 You bid me send you all the Chatter-Chitter I heard.
chatter-mark n. (a) Geology a mark made on a surface by a fragment of rock on the under-surface of glacier ice; (b) (see quot. 1893).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > mark on feature or surface > [noun]
seamc1330
footprint1552
stringa1728
wrinklea1807
ripple mark1831
ripple1838
grooving1846
wave-mark1863
sand-scratch1871
chatter-mark1888
cross-colouring1901
wave-marking1903
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine tool > [noun] > vibration of > marks caused by
utters1853
chatter-mark1888
chatter1893
1888 T. C. Chamberlin in 7th Ann. Rep. U.S. Geol. Surv. 1885–6 247 A fragment of rock acting as a gouging tool often produces ‘chatter marks’, little transverse lines of breakage due to the unsteady action of the tool in gouging the rock.
1893 I. K. Funk et al. Standard Dict. Eng. Lang. I Chatter-marks, irregular tool-markings caused by vibration due to lack of stiffness in a lathe or similar machine.
1904 T. C. Chamberlin & R. D. Salisbury Geol. (1905) I. 270 Glacial striæ and bruises. The block to the right shows two sets of striæ: that to the left shows the peculiar curved fractures known as Chatter Marks.
1954 H. Garner Oriental Blue & White 37 They are roughly finished with radial marks, caused by the slipping of the turning tool and colloqually known as ‘chatter marks’.
1963 D. W. Humphries & E. E. Humphries tr. H. Termier & G. Termier Erosion & Sedimentation v. 124 (caption) Striation left by the Quaternary Ice Sheet on a Rock in Fakse Quarry (Denmark). Note the lunate ‘chatter marks’; the ice moved from left to right.
chatter-pie n. familiar name for the Magpie; also figurative = chatterbox n.
ΚΠ
1721–1800 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. Chatter-pie, a kind of bird.
chatter-water n. humorous tea.
ΚΠ
1863 Mrs. Toogood Specim. Yorks. Dial. (at cited word) What a time you sit over your chatter-watter.
Draft additions June 2015
Radio or other electronic communication which is monitored and analysed by intelligence agencies in order to gather information about (potential) terrorist activity or espionage; the total volume or extent of such communication.This is a specific use deriving from the general sense ‘talk, gossip’ in the particular context of radio or telephone communication which may be intercepted or monitored for intelligence purposes: see, for example, quot. 1968. Cf. radio chatter n. at radio n. Compounds 3.
ΚΠ
1968 N.Y. Times 26 Jan. 9/1 The third function of an intelligence ship..is to monitor ‘plain language’ radio transmissions, especially by North Korean pilots in the air. ‘When they listen to the chatter between pilots,..they can frequently get information about squadron numbers and the names of commanders.’]
2001 Times 18 Dec. 1/2 The Pentagon said that intelligence ‘chatter’ had gone quiet and that he [sc. Osama bin Laden] may have escaped the area.
2004 R. D. Mahoney Getting Away with Murder iii. 89 Counterterrorism Center..began to pick up 'chatter' (raw intercepts) that seemed to point toward some cataclysm toward the end of the year.
2012 Daily News (N.Y.) (Nexis) 3 Apr. (News section) 5 Browne said there is no chatter or intel to suggest N.Y.C. is going to be hit.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
† chattern.2
/ˈtʃatə/, U.S. /ˈtʃædər/ Obsolete.
One who chats; a gossip.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > conversation > [noun] > chatting or chat > one who chats or gossips
kikelot?c1225
mathelild?c1225
cacklec1230
tutelerc1385
tittererc1400
roukera1425
trattlerc1485
flimmerc1530
tattler1549
chatter1561
gossip1566
gossiper1568
tittle-tattle1571
chatmate1599
fiddle-faddle1602
tittle-tattler1602
confabulator1659
twittle-twat1662
shat1709
prittle-prattle1725
tattle-basket1736
small-talker1762
nash-gab1816
granny1861
windjammer1880
schmoozer1899
scuttlebutt gossip1901
wag-tongue1902
coffee-houser1907
kibitzer1925
clatfarta1930
natterer1959
yacker1959
rapper1967
village gossip1972
1561 T. Hoby Breef Rehersall in tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer sig. Yy.iiii Not to be a babbler, brauler or chatter.
a1603 T. Cartwright Confut. Rhemists New Test. (1618) Pref. sig. B3 He sharply reproueth such as..chatters and vnprofitable.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
chatterv.
/ˈtʃatə/, U.S. /ˈtʃædər/ 1.
a. Of birds: To utter a rapid succession or series of short vocal sounds; now applied to sounds approaching those of the human voice, e.g. of starlings, magpies, etc., but originally used more widely, so as to include what is now called the ‘twitter’ of sparrows, swallows, etc.Human ‘chattering’ was originally transferred from the chattering of birds; but the ‘chattering’ of a magpie, etc., is now commonly taken as a simile from that of a human being.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > sound or bird defined by > [verb (intransitive)] > chirp or twitter
chirmOE
chattera1250
janglea1300
jargon?a1366
chirkc1386
chirtc1386
chitterc1386
twittera1387
chirpc1440
yipc1440
channerc1480
quitter1513
chirrup1579
chipper1593
pip1598
gingreate1623
chita1639
sweet1677
shatter17..
swee-swee1839
weet-weet1845
cheet1855
tweet1856
twiddle1863
weet1866
a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 67 Sperruwe is a cheaterinde brid. cheatereð [?c1225 Cleo. chitereð] euer ant chirmeð..so ouh ancre..chirmen & cheateren euer hire bonen.
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) v. xxiii. 131 Small byrdes crye and chatter more than grete.
c1430 J. Lydgate Minor Poems (1840) 150 The stare wyl chatre.
?1533 G. Du Wes Introductorie for to lerne Frenche sig. Dii v The byrdes chermes and chattereth.
1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 27 The old ones [sc. swallows] will flye away chattering, and chirping in mournfull sort.
1611 Bible (King James) Isa. xxxviii. 14 Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter; I did mourne as a doue. View more context for this quotation
1699 W. Dampier Voy. & Descr. ii. ii. 66 Sometimes called Chattering Crows, because they chatter like a Magpy.
1807 W. Wordsworth Resolution & Independence in Poems I. 89 The Jay makes answer as the Magpie chatters.
1859 J. M. Jephson & L. Reeve Narr. Walking Tour Brittany x. 169.
b. transitive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > sound or bird defined by > [verb (transitive)] > chirp or sing
bechirma1250
twittera1387
chitter1393
chatterc1400
bechirp1600
chirp1614
chirrupa1657
gambola1657
tweet1851
jargon1894
c1400 Test. Love Prol. How should then a French man borne, such termes conne iumpere in his matter, but as the Jay chatereth English.
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique ii. xlvii. 300 An infinite number of prettie small birdes, which continually..doe chatter and chant their proper & naturall branch songs.
2. Of human beings: To talk rapidly, incessantly, and with more sound than sense. Esp. said of children; but often applied vituperatively to speech which one does not like. Also said of apes and other animals whose voice suggests human chattering.
a. intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > loquacity or talkativeness > be talkative [verb (intransitive)] > talk excessively or chatter
chavel?c1225
babblea1250
chattera1250
clacka1250
janglea1300
ganglec1300
clapc1315
mumblec1350
blabberc1375
carp1377
tatterc1380
garre1382
rattlec1400
clatter1401
chimec1405
gabc1405
pattera1450
smattera1450
languetc1450
pratec1460
chat1483
jabber1499
clittera1529
cackle1530
prattle1532
blatter1533
blab1535
to run on pattens1546
tattle1547
prittle-prattlea1555
trattlea1555
tittle-tattle1556
quiddlea1566
brabble1570
clicket1570
twattle1573
gabble1574
prittle1583
to like to hear oneself speak, talk1597
to word it1612
deblaterate1623
tongue1624
twitter1630
snatter1647
oversay1656
whiffle1706
to gallop away1711
splutter1728
gob1770
gibble-gabble1775
palaver1781
to talk (etc.) nineteen to the dozen1785
gammon1789
witter1808
yabble1808
yaff1808
mag1810
chelp1820
tongue-pad1825
yatter1825
potter1826
chipper1829
jaw-jaw1831
buzz1832
to shoot off one's mouth1864
yawp1872
blate1878
chin1884
yap1888
spiel1894
to talk (also lie, swear, etc.) a blue streak1895
to run off at the mouth1908
chattermag1909
clatfart1913
to talk a streak1915
to run one's mouth1916
natter1942
ear-bash1944
rabbit1950
yack1950
yacker1961
to eat parrot head (also bottom)1965
yacket1969
to twat on1996
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > absence of meaning > nonsense, rubbish > empty, idle talk > talk idly [verb (intransitive)]
chattera1250
drivelc1390
clatter1401
chatc1440
smattera1450
pratec1460
blaver1461
babble?1504
blether1524
boblec1530
trattlea1555
tittle-tattle1556
fable1579
tinkle1638
whiffle1706
slaver1730
doitera1790
jaunder1808
haver1816
maunder1816
blather1825
yatter1825
blat1846
bibble-babble1888
flap-doodle1893
twiddle1893
spiel1894
rot1896
blither1903
to run off at the mouth1908
drool1923
twiddle-twaddle1925
crap1940
natter1942
yack1950
yacker1961
yacket1969
a1250 Owl & Night 322 Thu chaterest so doth on Irish preost.
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xiv. 226 If he chyde or chatre Hym chieueth þe worse.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 70 Chateryn, garrio.
c1440 York Myst. xxvi. 180 Þou chaterist like a churle þat can chyde.
c1450 Why can't be nun 251 in Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 144 Whoso chateryt lyke a py..schalle be put owte of company.
1549 J. Olde tr. Erasmus Paraphr. 1 Tim. v. 13 Shamefully chattring of mariage..of the naughtynes..done in other mens householdes.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) ii. ii. 9 Like Apes, that moe and chatter at me, And after bite me. View more context for this quotation
1853 C. Kingsley Hypatia I. ii. 20 The female slaves..worked, and chattered, and quarrelled.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 174 Chattering about what he had done for the good cause.
b. transitive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > loquacity or talkativeness > utter in a chattering manner [verb (transitive)]
cacklec1230
chattera1250
clapc1315
jangle1377
blabberc1380
trattlea1425
pratea1475
chat1483
prattlea1500
prittle-prattlea1555
gabble1566
blatter?1567
gaggle1577
clacket1579
knap1581
prittle1583
clack1590
volley1591
tattle1593
prabble1603
out-babble1649
garrulate1656
gabber?1661
chime1697
spiel1904
chitter-chatter1928
a1250 [see sense 1a].
1847 B. Disraeli Tancred II. iii. vi. 105 He..looked in at some of his creditors to chatter charming delusions.
1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam lxvii. 94 They chatter'd trifles at the door. View more context for this quotation
1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 70 Even the girls Chatter half-atheism.
3. Of the teeth: To make a noise by rapidly repeated collision; to shiver, shake.
a. intransitive. (Rarely said of the person.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > repeated sound or succession of sounds > [verb (intransitive)] > make chattering sound > specifically of teeth
chatterc1420
hacka1450
chitter1535
clacket1579
beata1592
shatter1682
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > coldness > be cold [verb (intransitive)] > be cold or have sensation of cold > chatter with cold (of teeth)
chatter1537
hack1549
to say an ape's paternoster1578
c1420 Anturs of Arth. xi The schaft and the shol, shaturt to the shin.
a1505 R. Henryson Test. Cresseid 156 in Poems (1981) 116 His teith chatterit and cheuerit with the chin.
1537 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxf. (1880) 142 I stode..in a cold ffrosty mornyng, tyll that my teeth chattred in my heed.
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xx. 100 When the raine came to wet me once, and the winde to make mee chatter . View more context for this quotation
1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. ii. ii. sig. N8v My Teeth chatter, and my whole Body does shake strongly enough to made [sic] the Bed it self do so.
1798 R. Southey Eng. Eclogues iv The evening wind already Makes one's teeth chatter.
1863 M. Oliphant Salem Chapel I. xvi. 289 Her very teeth chattered with anxiety and cold.
b. causally. To make (the teeth) chatter.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > repeated sound or succession of sounds > [verb (transitive)] > make (teeth) chatter
clacket1579
chatter1603
1603 S. Harsnett Declar. Popish Impostures 119 The poore Devil chattered his teeth so sore.
1866 G. A. Sala Trip to Barbary vii. 131 Cowering in corners..gibbering and chattering their teeth like disconsolate pagods.
4. Applied to similar sounds: esp. to clatter, rattle from vibration.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > repeated sound or succession of sounds > [verb (intransitive)] > make chattering sound
chatter1853
1853 Pharm. Jrnl. & Trans. 13 125 It burned with the..flame..of cannel coal, and ‘chattered’ in burning.
1879 J. J. Holtzapffel Turning & Mech. Manip. IV. 342 The vibration causes the work and the tool to ‘chatter’ upon each other.
1880 Daily News 30 Apr. 2 [He] first heard one of the bars ‘chatter’ when a train was passing over the bridge.
1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockmakers' Handbk. (new ed.) 138 If the cutting edge is above the centre of the body pressure..causes it to ‘chatter’.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1a1250
n.21561v.a1250