- conversation
- nounADJECTIVE▪ brief, short▪ lengthy, long▪
We engaged in a long conversation.
▪ endless, pointless▪We had to listen to endless conversations about high prices and food shortages.
▪ everyday, general, normal, ordinary▪ casual, idle, informal▪It's not a subject that often crops up in casual conversation.
▪ intimate, personal, private▪ face-to-face, one-on-one (AmE)▪The two of you need to have a face-to-face conversation.
▪ one-sided, two-way▪Think of prayer as a two-way conversation.
▪ phone, telephone▪ overheard, recorded, taped▪ civilized, polite▪We sat making polite conversation and feeling rather uncomfortable.
▪ friendly, pleasant▪ animated, lively▪ heated▪ fascinating, good, intelligent, interesting, stimulating▪He said that television had been the death of good conversation.
▪ candid, honest▪ deep, in-depth, meaningful, proper, real, serious▪There was no time for a proper conversation.
▪ simple▪When you are struggling with an unfamiliar language, the simplest conversations can be misinterpreted.
▪ strange▪ chance▪A chance conversation led to a brilliant new career for the young student.
▪ awkward, desultory, halting, stilted▪We carried on a rather awkward conversation.
▪ hushed, murmured, quiet, whispered▪ ongoing (esp. AmE)▪There is an ongoing conversation in society about how we raise our children.
▪ imaginary▪ after-dinner, dinner▪ adult▪Young children become quickly bored by adult conversation.
▪ water-cooler (AmE)▪The book became an instant best-seller and topic of water-cooler conversation (= a popular subject for discussion, for example between people who work together).
… OF CONVERSATION▪ snatch▪I overheard snatches of a conversation between two doctors.
VERB + CONVERSATION▪ carry on, have, hold, make▪You can't hold a private conversation there.
▪I tried to make conversation with the three people around the table.
▪ begin, initiate, open, spark, start, strike up▪He was waiting for her to open the conversation.
▪ draw sb into, engage sb in▪When I tried to engage him in conversation, she always interrupted.
▪ fall into, get into▪I got into conversation with one of the directors. (BrE)
▪I got into a conversation with Chris about UFOs. (AmE)
▪ be deep in, be engaged in▪They were deep in conversation and didn't notice the time.
▪ continue, keep up▪Cara kept up a one-sided conversation.
▪ control, dominate▪ bring around, bring round (esp. BrE), steer, turn▪I managed to bring the conversation around to why they were leaving.
▪He tried to steer the conversation away from the topic of money.
▪She turned the conversation to her work.
▪ enter, join, join in▪ break off▪ conclude, end, finish▪ avoid▪She avoided conversation with the other passengers.
▪ encourage▪I was courteous but didn't encourage conversation.
▪ hear, listen to, overhear▪ record, tape▪Police taped the conversation.
▪ break into, interrupt▪ resume▪ recall, remember▪I recall a conversation in which he told me he would never leave Paris.
CONVERSATION + VERB▪ occur, take place▪When did this conversation take place?
▪ continue, proceed▪The conversation proceeded in French.
▪ flow▪They all relaxed and conversation flowed freely.
▪ come around to sth, come round to sth (esp. BrE), drift, move on (to sth), switch, turn to sth, veer back to sth, veer off sth▪The conversation drifted away from babies.
▪The conversation moved on to other things.
▪The conversation turned to football.
▪ revolve around▪ cease, end, stop▪All conversation ceased and everyone turned around.
▪The conversation ended when the vacuum cleaner started up.
▪ die, die away, die down▪ dry up (BrE), run dry (esp. AmE)▪All too soon the stilted conversation ran dry.
PREPOSITION▪ during conversation▪In the Western world it is polite to maintain eye contact during conversation.
▪ in conversation with▪In tonight's show we hear Chris Toole in conversation with the artist Mary Withers.
▪ conversation about▪We had a long conversation about old cars.
▪ conversation between▪a conversation between Jane and her parents
▪ conversation on▪a conversation on the topic of activities for children
▪ conversation with▪I had an interesting conversation with Dick Wortley.
PHRASES▪ an attempt at conversation▪She ignored all my attempts at conversation.
▪ be in … conversation (with sb)▪Don was in close conversation with the girl on his right.
▪ a buzz of conversation, a hum of conversation▪She could hear him over the buzz of conversation and laughter.
▪ during the course of (the) conversation▪During the course of conversation, it emerged that Sheila had lived in Nigeria.
▪ keep the conversation going▪Our hostess did her best to keep the conversation going.
▪ a lull in the conversation▪ a topic of conversation▪The main topic of conversation was the war.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
