chatteringn.
/ˈtʃatərɪŋ/ a. The action expressed by the verb chatter v. (in its various senses).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > sound or bird defined by > [noun] > twitter or chirp > action of
chatteringa1250
writelingc1275
jargoning?a1366
chitteringc1374
jargonc1386
chirpingc1440
chirming1481
garrulingc1550
chirruping1579
twittering1773
twitteration1805
chippering1879
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > absence of meaning > nonsense, rubbish > empty, idle talk > [noun] > indulgence in
chatteringa1250
janglingc1330
clatteringc1400
trattlinga1425
jabbering1499
chatting1509
tittle-tattlinga1586
bletheringa1834
nattering1859
yattering1859
blithering1925
yackety-yacking1953
blatting1955
yacking1959
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > repeated sound or succession of sounds > [noun] > chattering sound > specifically of teeth
chattering1552
chittering1870
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > repeated sound or succession of sounds > [noun] > chattering sound
chattering1880
a1250 Owl & Nightingale 560 Bute thu canst of chateringe.
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. ii. 84 Chateryng-oute-of-resoun.
1509 A. Barclay Brant's Shyp of Folys (Pynson) f. li The pye Betrays hir byrdes by hir chatrynge and crye.
1552 Abp. J. Hamilton Catech. i. ii. f. 10 Murning and chatering of teith.
1589 Pappe with Hatchet (1844) 39 Neuer trouble the church with chattering.
a1701 H. Maundrell Journey Aleppo to Jerusalem (1703) 27 Irreverent chattering of certain Prayers.
1809 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 21 212 Several rigors, and regular chattering of the teeth.
1880 Daily News 20 Apr. 2 He had no knowledge of ironwork; but he knew sufficient to lighten the ‘chattering’.
b. attributive.
ΚΠ
c1678 in Roxburghe Ballads (1882) IV. 358 He cut her Chattering-string, And he [quickly] set her Tongue on the run.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
chatteringadj.
/ˈtʃatərɪŋ/ That chatters (in various senses of the verb).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > loquacity or talkativeness > [adjective]
wordyeOE
talewisec1200
i-worded?c1225
babblinga1250
cacklinga1250
chatteringa1250
speakfula1250
word-wooda1250
of many wordsc1350
janglingc1374
tatteringc1380
tongueya1382
ganglinga1398
readya1400
jargaunt1412
talkative1432
open-moutheda1470
clattering1477
trattling?a1513
windy1513
popping1528
smatteringa1529
rattle?1529
communicablea1533
blab1552
gaggling1553
long-tongued?1553
prittle-prattle1556
pattering1558
talking1560
bobling1566
gabbling1566
verbal1572
piet1573
twattling1573
flibber gibber1575
babblative1576
tickle-tongued1577
tattling1581
buzzing1587
long-winded1589
multiloquous1591
discoursive1599
rattling1600
glib1602
flippant1605
talkful1605
nimble-tongued1608
tongue-ripe1610
fliperous1611
garrulous?1611
futile1612
overspeaking1612
feather-tongueda1618
tongue-free1617
long-breatheda1628
well-breathed1635
multiloquious1640
untongue-tied1640
unretentive1650
communicative1651
linguacious1651
glibbed1654
largiloquent1656
multiloquent1656
parlagea1657
loose-clacked1661
nimble-chop1662
twit-twat1665
over-talkativea1667
loquacious1667
loudmouth1668
conversable1673
gash1681
narrative1681
chappy1693
apposite1701
conversative1703
gabbit1710
lubricous1715
gabby?1719
ventose1721
taleful1726
chatty?1741
blethering1759
renable1781
fetch-fire1784
conversational1799
conversant1803
gashing1808
long-lunged1815
talky1815
multi-loquacious1819
prolegomenous1822
talky-talky1831
nimble-mouthed1836
slipper1842
speechful1842
gassy1843
in great force1849
yattering1859
babbly1860
irreticent1864
chattable1867
lubrical1867
chattery1869
loose-mouthed1872
chinny1883
tongue-wagging1885
yappy1909
big-mouthed1914
loose-lipped1919
ear-bashing1945
ear-bending1946
yackety-yacking1953
nattering1959
yacking1959
woofy1960
the world > animals > birds > sound or bird defined by > [adjective] > singing or chirping
chatteringa1250
chantinga1529
chippering1593
pipient1607
chirping1611
twittering1628
chittering1821
weeting1852
chirming1854
garrulous1854
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > absence of meaning > nonsense, rubbish > empty, idle talk > [adjective] > engaging in idle talk
babblinga1250
chatteringa1250
drivellinga1475
clattering1477
trattling?a1513
prating1528
bluddering1553
chatting1589
mouthy1589
dribbling1593
tinkling1625
stultiloquious1683
havering1720
vaniloquent1727
haverela1774
havering1808
stultiloquent1845
yattering1859
blethery1889
blithering1889
yackety-yacking1953
yacketing1958
nattering1959
yacking1959
chopsy1974
a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 67 Sperruwe is a cheaterinde [?c1225 Cleo. anchiterrinde] brid.
1509 A. Barclay Brant's Shyp of Folys (Pynson) f. liv Take example by the chatrynge pye.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) iv. ii. 59 To tame a shrew, and charme her chattering tongue. View more context for this quotation
1782 W. Cowper Conversation in Poems 235 Fashion, leader of a chatt'ring train.
Compounds
chattering plover n. the killdeer plover, Charadrius vociferus; = killdee n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > [noun] > family Charadriidae > genus Charadrius > charadrius vocifera (killdeer)
chattering plover1732
killdee1732
noisy plover1785
1732 C. Mortimer in Philos. Trans. 1731–2 (Royal Soc.) 37 176 The Chattering Plover. In Virginia they are called Kildeers, from some Resemblance of their Noise to the Sound of that Word.
1754 M. Catesby Nat. Hist. Carolina III. Catal. 2. 71 The Chattering Plover..Charadrius vociferus.
1796 J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) I. 214 Kildee or Chattering Plover.
Derivatives
ˈchatteringly adv.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > loquacity or talkativeness > [adverb]
roundly1546
babblingly1561
babblishly1574
talkatively1589
full-moutha1605
fluently1613
volubly?1615
gliba1623
glibly1669
gash1721
gashlya1774
rattlingly1824
loquaciously1854
garrulously1859
chatteringly1864
communicatively1868
chattily1892
talkingly1895
gushily1921
yappingly1924
1864 J. R. Lowell Fireside Trav. 223 To intrude chatteringly upon the midnight privacy of Apollo.
Draft additions October 2001
chattering classes n. (occasionally also in singular chattering class) originally British (freq. derogatory) members of the educated metropolitan middle class, esp. those in academic, artistic, or media circles, considered as a social group freely given to the articulate, self-assured expression of (esp. liberal) opinions about society, culture, and current events.Quot. 1871 is apparently an isolated example of this use before the 1980s; other early occurrences of the phrase do not represent a fixed collocation or meaning.
ΚΠ
1871 Spectator 1 July 790/1 Everything seemed to grow dear at once, to the immense disgust of the chattering classes who bought, but to the delight of the peasant who sold.
1980 F. Johnson in Now! 21 Mar. 48/1 The peculiar need for something to be frightened about only seems to affect those of us who are part of the chattering classes.
1990 R. Crichfield Among British vii. 457 The old Britain of Eton, Oxbridge, the land, and the Guards, allied with a chattering class of literary intellectuals,..is deadly when it comes to bringing the country into the 1990s.
2000 Sunday Times (Johannesburg) 4 June (Mag.) 6/1 For a day or two, the chattering classes were treated to speculation about government intervention.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online March 2020).
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n.a1250adj.a1250