Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Petty gossip; trivial talk.
- intransitive verb To talk idly or foolishly; gossip.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To talk idly; prate; gabble.
- noun Idle, trifling talk; insignificant gossip.
- noun An idle, trifling talker; a gossip.
- Gossiping; gabbling.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Idle, trifling talk; empty prattle.
- noun rare An idle, trifling talker; a gossip.
- intransitive verb To talk idly; to prate.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun
petty ,idle gossip - verb to engage in such gossip
- verb to spread gossip
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun light informal conversation for social occasions
- verb speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantly
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Gossip can be the malicious spreading of misinformation, but unsubstantiated tittle-tattle is sometimes all we have to go on.
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And she may gain some idea what the many targets of News of the World tittle-tattle and tell all stories may have felt.
Dan Ehrlich: Jail/Hollywood Her Next Career Moves? Dan Ehrlich 2011
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Gibson seems to have been ubiquitous in the tittle-tattle press recently, and absolutely none of it is positive.
Will Hangover 2 cameo give Mel Gibson more headaches? Ben Child 2010
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Miss Kitt should never have been subjected to the abuse of their powers by the F.B.I. and the C.I.A., who, under the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson, wasted much public money by trying to gather into the relevant files grossly stupid tittle-tattle, in a sinister, surprisingly effective, but fortunately short-lived effort to destroy her career; long enough, however, to do Miss Kitt much damage.
Archive 2009-01-01 2009
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The man is to music bloggers what pissed Whitehall tittle-tattle is to Westminster diarists.
Kanye West's Runaway: Purple Rain or bird brains? Will Dean 2010
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Tory loyalists pushed out in front of the TV cameras have dismissed this as "tittle-tattle".
David Cameron will plough on with the health plan at his peril | Andrew Rawnsley 2012
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In lieu of direct experience, social tittle-tattle allows people to learn about others across a very wide group, the team say.
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What these documents add is gossip and tittle-tattle between the negotiators.
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Thanks for your company on this marathon day of tittle-tattle.
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Not so if it's just so much tittle-tattle about essentially private affairs.
News of the World vs. WikiLeaks Bret Stephens 2011
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