1. Talk socially without exchanging too much information
   "the men were sitting in the cafe and chatting";
   - chew the fat [informal], shoot the breeze [N. Amer, informal], confabulate, confab [informal], chitchat [informal], chit-chat [informal], chatter, chaffer, natter [informal], gossip, jaw [informal], claver [UK, dialect], visit [N. Amer, informal], gas [informal], chew the rag [informal], gab [informal], chinwag [Brit, informal]
    
2. Exchange text or voice messages in real time through a computer network
   "They chatted online for hours"

1. An informal conversation
   "They had a quick chat in the hallway before the meeting";
   - confab [informal], confabulation, schmooze [informal], schmoose [informal], natter [informal]
    
2. Birds having a chattering call
   "The New World chat's loud song echoed through the thicket";
   - New World chat
    
3. Songbirds having a chattering call
   "The chat's distinctive chatter could be heard from the bushes";
   - Old World chat

Derived forms: chatted, chatting, chats

Type of: conversation, converse, convo [Austral, informal], discourse, New World warbler, thrush, wood warbler

Part of: genus Icteria, genus Saxicola, Icteria, Saxicola

Encyclopedia: Chat, Natacha, chat