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palaver

   Also found in: Legal, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
pa·lav·er  (p-lvr, -lävr)
n.
1.
a. Idle chatter.
b. Talk intended to charm or beguile.
2. Obsolete A parley between European explorers and representatives of local populations, especially in Africa.
v. pa·lav·ered, pa·lav·er·ing, pa·lav·ers
v.tr.
To flatter or cajole.
v.intr.
To chatter idly.

[Portuguese palavra, speech, alteration of Late Latin parabola, speech, parable; see parable.]

palaver [pəˈlɑːvə]
n
1. tedious or time-consuming business, esp when of a formal nature all the palaver of filling in forms
2. loud and confused talk and activity; hubbub
3. (often used humorously) a conference
4. Now rare talk intended to flatter or persuade
5. W African
a.  an argument
b.  trouble arising from an argument
vb
1. (intr) (often used humorously) to have a conference
2. (intr) to talk loudly and confusedly
3. (tr) to flatter or cajole
[from Portuguese palavra talk, from Latin parabola parable]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.palaver - flattery intended to persuade
flattery - excessive or insincere praise
2.palaver - loud and confused and empty talk; "mere rhetoric"
hokum, meaninglessness, nonsense, nonsensicality, bunk - a message that seems to convey no meaning
Verb1.palaverpalaver - speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantly
mouth, speak, talk, verbalise, verbalize, utter - express in speech; "She talks a lot of nonsense"; "This depressed patient does not verbalize"
blather, blether, blither, smatter, babble - to talk foolishly; "The two women babbled and crooned at the baby"
2.palaver - influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering; "He palavered her into going along"
persuade - cause somebody to adopt a certain position, belief, or course of action; twist somebody's arm; "You can't persuade me to buy this ugly vase!"
soft-soap - persuade someone through flattery
browbeat, bully, swagger - discourage or frighten with threats or a domineering manner; intimidate
3.palaver - have a lengthy discussion, usually between people of different backgrounds
parley - discuss, as between enemies

palaver
noun
1. fuss, business (informal), to-do, performance (informal), procedure, carry-on (informal, chiefly Brit.), pantomime (informal, chiefly Brit.), song and dance (Brit. informal), rigmarole We had to go through the whole palaver of changing our flight.
2. prattle, chatter, babble, yak (slang), hubbub, natter (Brit.), tongue-wagging, blather, blether I had to listen to a lot of palaver about political correctness.
3. conference, session, discussion, get-together (informal), parley, powwow, colloquy, confab (informal) Have you two finished your little palaver?
Translations
palaver [pəˈlɑːvəʳ]
A. N
1. (= fuss) → jaleo m, desmadre m; (= trouble) → molestias fpl, trámites mpl engorrosos (US) (= chatter) → palabrería f
what a palaver!¡qué jaleo!
why all the palaver!¡no es para tanto!
that palaver about the caraquel jaleo que se armó con el coche
can't we do it without a lot of palaver?¿no podemos hacerlo sin meternos en tantos líos?
2. (= conference) → conferencia f, parlamento m
B. VIparlamentar
palaver [pəˈlɑːvər] n (= fuss) → histoire f
What a palaver! → Quelle histoire!
palaver
n (inf)
(= fuss and bother)Umstand m, → Theater nt (inf)
(= conference)Palaver nt
palaver [pəˈlɑːvəʳ] n (fam) (fuss) → storie fpl; (talk) → tiritera
palaver [pəˈlɑːvəʳ] n (fam) (fuss) → storie fpl; (talk) → tiritera


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Then she would pounce upon me with a lot of that drivelling poodle palaver and kiss me on the nose--but what could I do?
At their approach the villagers came pouring out, and Usanga advanced with two of his warriors to palaver with the chief.
Master Pedro did not care to engage in any more palaver with Don Quixote, whom he knew right well; so he rose before the sun, and having got together the remains of his show and caught his ape, he too went off to seek his adventures.
 
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