GOSSIP

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does gossip mean? 

• GOSSIP (noun)
  The noun GOSSIP has 3 senses:

1. light informal conversation for social occasions

2. a report (often malicious) about the behavior of other people

3. a person given to gossiping and divulging personal information about others

  Familiarity information: GOSSIP used as a noun is uncommon.

• GOSSIP (verb)
  The verb GOSSIP has 2 senses:

1. wag one's tongue; speak about others and reveal secrets or intimacies

2. talk socially without exchanging too much information

  Familiarity information: GOSSIP used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GOSSIP (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Light informal conversation for social occasions

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

causerie; chin-wag; chin-wagging; chin wag; chin wagging; chit-chat; chit chat; chitchat; gab; gabfest; gossip; small talk; tittle-tattle

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

chat; confab; confabulation; schmoose; schmooze (an informal conversation)

Derivation:

gossip (talk socially without exchanging too much information)

gossipy (prone to friendly informal communication)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A report (often malicious) about the behavior of other people

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

comment; gossip; scuttlebutt

Context example:

the divorce caused much gossip

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

account; report (the act of informing by verbal report)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "gossip"):

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)

dirt; malicious gossip; scandal (disgraceful gossip about the private lives of other people)

talk; talk of the town (idle gossip or rumor)

Derivation:

gossip (wag one's tongue; speak about others and reveal secrets or intimacies)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A person given to gossiping and divulging personal information about others

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

gossip; gossiper; gossipmonger; newsmonger; rumormonger; rumourmonger

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

communicator (a person who communicates with others)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "gossip"):

cat (a spiteful woman gossip)

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)

Derivation:

gossip (wag one's tongue; speak about others and reveal secrets or intimacies)

• GOSSIP (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they gossip    ... he / she / it gossips   
Past simple: gossiped    / gossipped   
Past participle: gossiped    / gossipped   
-ing form: gossiping    / gossipping   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Wag one's tongue; speak about others and reveal secrets or intimacies

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

dish the dirt; gossip

Context example:

She won't dish the dirt

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

speak; talk (exchange thoughts; talk with)

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

bruit; rumor; rumour (tell or spread rumors)

Sentence frames:

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

Sentence examples:

Sam and Sue gossip
Sam wants to gossip with Sue

Derivation:

gossip (a report (often malicious) about the behavior of other people)

gossip; gossiper (a person given to gossiping and divulging personal information about others)

gossiping (a conversation that spreads personal information about other people)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Talk socially without exchanging too much information

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

chaffer; chat; chatter; chew the fat; chit-chat; chitchat; claver; confab; confabulate; gossip; jaw; natter; shoot the breeze; visit

Context example:

the men were sitting in the cafe and shooting the breeze

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

converse; discourse (carry on a conversation)

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

jawbone; schmoose; schmooze; shmoose; shmooze (talk idly or casually and in a friendly way)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

gossip (light informal conversation for social occasions)

 Context examples 

And then we quite forgot where we were, leaving Wolf Larsen stranded and silent in the midst of our flood of gossip.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

That is the centre of country gossip.

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

He begins with congratulations on the approaching nuptials of my eldest daughter, of which, it seems, he has been told by some of the good-natured, gossiping Lucases.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Barkis and myself had quite a gossip while you were out with Dick.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

It's a great mistake for young girls like Meg to leave themselves nothing to do but dress, give orders, and gossip.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

It was a very long street of two-story brick houses, neat and prim, with whitened stone steps and little groups of aproned women gossiping at the doors.

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

I’ll say she was ill, the poor lady! it’s enough that we should have seen her in her shame, without its being the gossip of the village.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

So ran the gossip at the squires' table.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

So much I learned partly from village gossip and partly from my own observation.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It is not a mere bit of gossip.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)