CONVERSE

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does converse mean? 

• CONVERSE (noun)
  The noun CONVERSE has 1 sense:

1. a proposition obtained by conversion

  Familiarity information: CONVERSE used as a noun is very rare.

• CONVERSE (adjective)
  The adjective CONVERSE has 2 senses:

1. of words so related that one reverses the relation denoted by the other

2. turned about in order or relation

  Familiarity information: CONVERSE used as an adjective is rare.

• CONVERSE (verb)
  The verb CONVERSE has 1 sense:

1. carry on a conversation

  Familiarity information: CONVERSE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CONVERSE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A proposition obtained by conversion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("converse" is a kind of...):

proposition ((logic) a statement that affirms or denies something and is either true or false)

• CONVERSE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of words so related that one reverses the relation denoted by the other

Context example:

'parental' and 'filial' are converse terms

Similar:

antonymous (of words: having opposite meanings)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Turned about in order or relation

Synonyms:

converse; reversed; transposed

Context example:

transposed letters

Similar:

backward (directed or facing toward the back or rear)

• CONVERSE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they converse ... he / she / it converses   
Past simple: conversed   
Past participle: conversed   
-ing form: conversing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Carry on a conversation

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

converse; discourse

Hypernyms (to "converse" is one way to...):

speak; talk (exchange thoughts; talk with)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "converse"):

argue; contend; debate; fence (have an argument about something)

interview; question (conduct an interview in television, newspaper, and radio reporting)

interview (discuss formally with (somebody) for the purpose of an evaluation)

interview (go for an interview in the hope of being hired)

chaffer; chat; chatter; chew the fat; chit-chat; chitchat; claver; confab; confabulate; gossip; jaw; natter; shoot the breeze; visit (talk socially without exchanging too much information)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence examples:

Sam and Sue converse
Sam wants to converse with Sue

Derivation:

conversation (the use of speech for informal exchange of views or ideas or information etc.)

 Context examples 

But they are very pleasing women when you converse with them.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Don’t you see that the converse is equally valid.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

At the present moment, for example, I should be writing a treatise instead of conversing with you.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Another fact, which had struck Major Murphy and three out of five of the other officers with whom I conversed, was the singular sort of depression which came upon him at times.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I could join with Diana and Mary in all their occupations; converse with them as much as they wished, and aid them when and where they would allow me.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Anne found in Mrs Smith the good sense and agreeable manners which she had almost ventured to depend on, and a disposition to converse and be cheerful beyond her expectation.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

He outlined the remarks he had uttered at the socialist meeting, pointing out that they were in all ways the converse of what the newspaper had put in his mouth.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I spent five days in conversing with many others of the ancient learned.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

We were not allowed to converse for any length of time, for the precarious state of my health rendered every precaution necessary that could ensure tranquillity.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

The two friends chatted in intimate converse for a few minutes, recalling once again the days of the past, while their prisoner vainly wriggled to undo the bonds that held him.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)