n. 1 the informal exchange of ideas by spoken words. 2 an instance of this. conversation piece 1 a small genre painting of a group of figures. 2 a thing that serves as a topic of conversation because of its unusualness etc. conversation stopper colloq. an unexpected remark, esp. one that cannot readily be answered.
[ ME f. OF f. L conversatio -onis (as CONVERSE(1)) ]