gossip
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gos·sip
(gŏs′əp)n.
1. Rumor or talk of a personal, sensational, or intimate nature.
2. A person who habitually spreads intimate or private rumors or facts.
3. Trivial, chatty talk or writing.
4. A close friend or companion.
5. Chiefly British A godparent.
intr.v. gos·siped, gos·sip·ing, gos·sips
To engage in or spread gossip: gossiped about the neighbors.
[Middle English godsib, gossip, godparent, from Old English godsibb : god, god; see god + sibb, kinsman; see s(w)e- in Indo-European roots.]
gos′sip·er n.
gos′sip·ry n.
gos′sip·y adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
gossip
(ˈɡɒsɪp)n
1. casual and idle chat: to have a gossip with a friend.
2. a conversation involving malicious chatter or rumours about other people: a gossip about the neighbours.
3. Also called: gossipmonger a person who habitually talks about others, esp maliciously
4. light easy communication: to write a letter full of gossip.
5. archaic a close woman friend
vb, -sips, -siping or -siped
(often foll by: about) to talk casually or maliciously (about other people)
[Old English godsibb godparent, from god + sib; the term came to be applied to familiar friends, esp a woman's female friends at the birth of a child, hence a person, esp a woman, fond of light talk]
ˈgossiper, ˈgossipper n
ˈgossiping n, adj
ˈgossipingly adv
ˈgossipy adj
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
gos•sip
(ˈgɒs əp)n., v. -siped -sipped, -sip•ing -sip•ping. n.
1. idle talk or rumor, esp. about the private affairs of others.
2. light, familiar talk or writing.
3. Also, gos′sip•er, gos′sip•per. a person given to tattling or idle talk.
4. Archaic. a friend, esp. a woman.
v.i. 5. to talk idly, esp. about others.
gos′sip•y, adj.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
Gossip
- [News in the computer industry] as rife with rumor as the C.I.A. or the National Security Council —Erik Sandberg-Diment, New York Times, January 25, 1987
- Collected them [rumors] as a child might collect matchbooks —W. P. Kinsella
- Confirmed gossips are like connoisseurs of cheese; the stuff they relish must be stout —Holman Day
- Delivered more gossip than the National Enquirer —Joseph Wambaugh
- Far and wide the tale was told, like a snowball growing while it rolled —John Greenleaf Whittier
- Fond of gossip as an old woman —Ivan Turgenev
- An indiscreet man is like an unsealed letter, everybody can read it —Sebastian Shamfort
- Little words of speculation drone like bees in a bottle —Beryl Markham
- News as roaring in the air like a flight of bees —Truman Capote
- News … would have run like a pistol shot through Faithful House [the name of publishing business around which Swinnerton’s novel, Faithful Company, centers] —Frank Swinnerton
- Rumor … it had gone like a fire in dry grass —William Faulkner
See Also: SPREADING
- Rumors [on Iranian arms scandal’s effect on Washington] are spreading like lava from a volcano —Senator Robert Byrd, CBS-TV news program, broadcast December 5th
- Rumors began to thicken like a terrible blizzard —Susan Fromberg Schaeffer
- Rumors … flew like birds out of the unknown —Stephen Crane
- Rumors swirled around his name like the waters in a riptide —Peter De Vries
- Rumors that rush around … inflating as they go, like giant balloons until somebody comes along to prick them —Vita Sackville-West
- Scandal, like a kite, to fly well, depends greatly on the length of the tale it has to carry —Punch, 1854
- A secret in his [the gossip’s] mouth is like a wild bird put into a cage; whose door no sooner opens, but it is out —Ben Jonson
- Spits out secrets like hot custard —Thomas Fuller
- Stories, like dragons, are hard to kill … If the snake does not, the tale runs still —John Greenleaf Whittier
- Tale-bearers are as bad as the talemakers —Richard Brinsley Sheridan
- Tell tales out of school like a child —Honoré de Balzac
- They come together like the coroner’s inquest, to sit upon the murdered reputations of the week —William Congreve
- They [a talkative family] fly around with news in their beaks like blue jays —Susan Fromberg Schaeffer
- Traded in gossip the way grown-ups play the stock market —Nora Johnson This comparison by the teen-aged narrator in The World of Henry Orient would be equally apt without the reference to age.
- Trumpeting it [a secret] … like an elephant in heat —William Alfred
- The United States government leaks like a rusty tin can —David Brinkley, “This Week With David Brinkley,” ABC-TV, November 16, 1986
- Word gets around..it’s like jungle drums —George Axelrod
- Word of scandal spreads like a spot of oil —Marcel Proust
Similes Dictionary, 1st Edition. © 1988 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
gossip
Past participle: gossiped
Gerund: gossiping
| Imperative |
|---|
| gossip |
| gossip |
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
| Noun | 1. |  gossip - light informal conversation for social occasions |
| 2. | gossip - a report (often malicious) about the behavior of other people; "the divorce caused much gossip" report, account - the act of informing by verbal report; "he heard reports that they were causing trouble"; "by all accounts they were a happy couple" earful - an outpouring of gossip hearsay, rumor, rumour - gossip (usually a mixture of truth and untruth) passed around by word of mouth grapevine, pipeline, word of mouth - gossip spread by spoken communication; "the news of their affair was spread by word of mouth" talk of the town, talk - idle gossip or rumor; "there has been talk about you lately" | |
| 3. | gossip - a person given to gossiping and divulging personal information about others communicator - a person who communicates with others cat - a spiteful woman gossip; "what a cat she is!" scandalmonger - a person who spreads malicious gossip blabbermouth, talebearer, taleteller, tattler, tattletale, telltale - someone who gossips indiscreetly yenta - (Yiddish) a woman who talks too much; a gossip unable to keep a secret; a woman who spreads rumors and scandal | |
| Verb | 1. | gossip - wag one's tongue; speak about others and reveal secrets or intimacies; "She won't dish the dirt" |
| 2. |  gossip - talk socially without exchanging too much information; "the men were sitting in the cafe and shooting the breeze" |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
gossip
noun
1. idle talk, scandal, hearsay, tittle-tattle, buzz, dirt (U.S. slang), jaw (slang), gen (Brit. informal), small talk, chitchat, blether, scuttlebutt (U.S. slang), chinwag (Brit. informal) There has been a lot of gossip about the reasons for his absence. a magazine packed with celebrity gossip
2. busybody, babbler, prattler, chatterbox (informal), blether, chatterer, scandalmonger, gossipmonger She was a vicious old gossip.
verb
1. chat, chatter, blather, schmooze (slang), jaw (slang), dish the dirt (informal), blether, shoot the breeze (slang, chiefly U.S.), chew the fat or rag (slang) We gossiped well into the night.
Quotations
"There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about" [Oscar Wilde The Picture of Dorian Gray]
"Gossip is a sort of smoke that comes from the dirty tobacco-pipes of those that diffuse it; it proves nothing but the bad taste of the smoker" [George Eliot Daniel Deronda]
"There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about" [Oscar Wilde The Picture of Dorian Gray]
"Gossip is a sort of smoke that comes from the dirty tobacco-pipes of those that diffuse it; it proves nothing but the bad taste of the smoker" [George Eliot Daniel Deronda]
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
gossip
noun1. Idle, often sensational and groundless talk about others:
Slang: scuttlebutt.
2. A person habitually engaged in idle talk about others:
blab, gossiper, gossipmonger, newsmonger, rumormonger, scandalmonger, tabby, talebearer, taleteller, tattle, tattler, tattletale, telltale, whisperer.
Slang: yenta.
To engage in or spread gossip:
Idioms: tell tales, tell tales out of school.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
ثَرثَرَه، حديثقِيلٌ و قَالقيل وقالمُحِب للقيل والقاليثرثر، يتحدَّث عن الآخرين
drbyklábositklepnaklepyklevetit
sladdersladderkællingsladresludresludre med
klaĉo
juorujuoruta
לרכלרכילות
tračtračati
pletykapletykafészektereferél
kjaftaskjóîaslúîra, segja kjaftasöguslúîur, kjaftasagaslúîur, spjallspjalla, slúîra
うわさ話うわさ話をする
가십수군거리다
apkalbosaukštuomenės kronikaliežuvautiliežuvautojasliežuvingas
papļāpāšanapapļāpātpļāpapļāpastenkas
klebetiťklebetnicaporozprávanie saporozprávať sa
klepetatiklepetuljaopravljanjeopravljati
skvallerskvallra
การนินทานินทา
buôn chuyệnchuyện phiếm
gossip
[ˈgɒsɪp]A. N
1. (= scandal, malicious stories) → cotilleo m, chismorreo m
3. (= person) → cotilla mf, chismoso/a m/f
B. VI
1. (= scandalmonger) → cotillear, chismorrear
2. (= chatter) → charlar
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
gossip
[ˈgɒsɪp] n
(= talk) (in village, workplace, milieu) → commérages mpl, cancans mpl
Tell me the gossip! → Raconte-moi les cancans !
gossip about sb → des commérages sur qn
There's been a lot of gossip about it → Il y a eu beaucoup de cancans là-dessus.
a piece of gossip → un ragot, un racontar
Tell me the gossip! → Raconte-moi les cancans !
gossip about sb → des commérages sur qn
There's been a lot of gossip about it → Il y a eu beaucoup de cancans là-dessus.
a piece of gossip → un ragot, un racontar
(= chat) → bavardages mpl
vi
(= chat) → bavarder
They were always gossiping → Elles étaient tout le temps en train de bavarder.
to gossip with sb → bavarder avec qn
They were always gossiping → Elles étaient tout le temps en train de bavarder.
to gossip with sb → bavarder avec qn
to gossip about sb → cancaner sur qn, faire des commérages sur qn
They gossiped about her → Elles faisaient des commérages à son sujet.gossip column n → échos mplgossip columnist n → échotier/ière m/f
They gossiped about her → Elles faisaient des commérages à son sujet.gossip column n → échos mplgossip columnist n → échotier/ière m/f
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
gossip
n
→ Klatsch m, → Tratsch m (inf); (= chat) → Schwatz m; to have a gossip with somebody → mit jdm schwatzen or plauschen (inf) → or klönen (N Ger); it started a lot of gossip → es gab Anlass zu vielem Gerede or Tratsch (inf) → or Klatsch; office gossip → Bürotratsch m (inf)
(= person) → Klatschbase f
gossip
:gossip column
n → Klatschkolumne or -spalte f
gossip columnist
n → Klatschkolumnist(in) m(f)
gossip
:gossipmonger
n → Klatschmaul nt (inf)
gossipmongering
n → Klatscherei f, → Tratscherei f (inf)
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
gossip
[ˈgɒsɪp]1. n (talk) → chiacchiere fpl; (scandal) → pettegolezzi mpl; (person) → pettegolo/a, chiacchierone/a
a piece of gossip → un pettegolezzo
a piece of gossip → un pettegolezzo
2. vi (talk) → chiacchierare
to gossip (about) (talk scandal) → fare pettegolezzi (su), chiacchierare (sul conto di)
to gossip (about) (talk scandal) → fare pettegolezzi (su), chiacchierare (sul conto di)
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
gossip
(ˈgosip) noun1. talk about other people's affairs, not always truthful. I never pay any attention to gossip.
2. a chat. She dropped in for a cup of coffee and a gossip.
3. a person who listens to and passes on gossip. She's a dreadful gossip.
verb1. to pass on gossip.
2. to chat.
ˈgossipy adjective fond of gossiping. gossipy neighbours.
gossip column an article in a newspaper etc containing gossip about famous people.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
gossip
→ قِيلٌ و قَال, يَنْهَمِكُ في القِيلِ والقَال drby, klábosit sladder, sludre med Klatsch, schwatzen κουτσομπολεύω, κουτσομπολιό chisme, chismorrear, cotillear, cotilleo juoru, juoruta cancaner, ragot trač, tračati pettegolezzo, spettegolare うわさ話, うわさ話をする 가십, 수군거리다 roddelen, roddeltje sladder, sladre oplotkować, plotka fofoca, fofocar сплетничать, сплетня skvaller, skvallra การนินทา, นินทา dedikodu, dedikodu yapmak buôn chuyện, chuyện phiếm 说闲话, 闲话Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009