noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a phone conversation
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Neither man denies the phone conversation took place.
a rational conversation/discussion
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Let's all calm down and have a rational discussion.
a subject of conversation
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She searched for a new subject of conversation.
a telephone conversation
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We had a long telephone conversation.
a topic of conversation
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Her favourite topic of conversation is herself.
animated discussion/conversation
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The performance was followed by an animated discussion.
conversation drifted
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The conversation drifted from one topic to another.
conversation piece
engage sb in conversation (= start talking to them )
engrossed in conversation with
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Who’s that guy Ally’s been engrossed in conversation with all night?
fell into conversation
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I fell into conversation with some guys from New York.
in earnest conversation
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Matthews was in earnest conversation with a young girl.
lighten the atmosphere/mood/conversation
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Nora didn’t respond to my attempts to lighten the conversation.
polite remarks/conversation/interest etc
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While they ate, they made polite conversation about the weather.
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Jan expressed polite interest in Edward’s stamp collection.
steer the conversation
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Helen tried to steer the conversation away from herself.
stilted conversation
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a stilted conversation
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
casual
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He knew instinctively that this was no casual conversation and that for Cora-Beth's sake he must be honest.
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People in his office view him with respect as some one who is self-contained and does not choose to join in casual conversation .
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But the compensations for being unable to read or carry on a casual conversation are overwhelming.
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Serious issues have been made into casual conversation .
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I'd forgotten how funny it is; from now on I shall be using it in casual conversation more often.
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It was into this quiet atmosphere of cigarette smoke and casual conversation that the sudden crackle of Foster's radio transmission sounded.
deep
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Anthea and the professor had been deep in conversation with an eager group of ladies from Leicester, leaving Meryl momentarily alone.
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The Count was deep in conversation with the mayor, who was staring down at his feet.
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Clarence and the mayor were still deep in conversation .
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Ranulf watched Corbett, the lay brother acting as interpreter, in deep conversation with the tavern-keeper.
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I found him in his trench enjoying a mug of tea and in deep conversation with a Commando friend of his.
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Two colleagues are deep in conversation .
long
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Herscovici is also thinking of writing a book based on his long conversations with Georgette Magritte.
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But after a few minutes the door finally opened, and a long conversation ensued.
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Throughout our long conversation his head is constantly in motion, eyes darting to and fro consciously avoiding my gaze.
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A long conspiratorial conversation ensues, punctuated by jokes and laughter.
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It was obviously going to be a long conversation .
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Last night, I had another long conversation with Maryvonne.
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They looked as if they had already had a long and intimate conversation together.
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Recently I had a long conversation with the credit manager of a department store in Grand Rapids.
normal
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How can human beings in normal conversation makes sense of 5,000 words an hour of confusing, semi-organized information?
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No one was talking because the noise of the wind and waves made normal conversation impossible.
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Explanations which are produced in normal conversation are likely to have a sharing function.
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Casper says they had a perfectly normal conversation .
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In the normal course of conversation I wouldn't talk about politics, I'd talk more about shagging.
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Her memory is extremely poor and she can not sustain a normal conversation .
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Indeed normal conversation in their house was of such pitch and volume that a scream would hardly have been heard.
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If you find that you can not hold a normal conversation after exercising, then you are overdoing it. 4.
polite
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This is not the kind of guy who makes polite conversation .
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Instead, you exchange polite business conversation , neither of you mentioning your written work.
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I decided that I had not come all this way only to indulge in polite conversation .
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I wanted live action, not polite conversation and chicken cordon bleu.
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He spent a few minutes making polite , nondescript conversation , then he proceeded to devote the remainder of the meal to Alyssia.
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Even so, there was not much that could be said, other than polite conversation .
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All she'd done was to make a bit of polite conversation !
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He would acknowledge the source - he was not a plagiarist - but his polite conversation was, he knew, poor.
private
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May I ask the House not to indulge in private conversations .
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They moved away to have a more private conversation , from which I gathered problems existed.
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The telephone was just as it should be, with no bugging device to turn his private conversations into public knowledge.
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And there were endless meetings and private conversations and arcane machinations, many never recorded.
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The hubbub was so intense that it would be impossible to hold any private conversation .
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Clinton went on to quote it again during the State of the Union and in other public remarks or private conversations .
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I have had several private conversations with Steve about this.
■ NOUN
phone
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Buckingham Palace holds a secret tape of phone conversations by Diana.
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Records of several cellular phone conversations between Ramsey and other individuals confirmed this, Wasserman said.
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Fulton recorded a phone conversation with his handler earlier this year.
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In a phone conversation with Jackson after the article appeared, Gingrich dissociated himself from Watts' remark, according to Jackson.
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Finally Audio notepad will enable the user to recording their phone conversation at the click of a button.
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Only then did I acknowledge that she had said something like this in several of our phone conversations .
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He recalled another phone conversation with Sandy three weeks earlier.
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It is illegal to intentionally intercept phone conversations or knowingly distribute their contents.
telephone
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Here a telephone conversation will usually have to suffice.
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My sister, my father has told me in a telephone conversation , is returning to the West Coast.
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The 1953 Conference Further to our recent telephone conversation I now enclose the 1953 Conference photograph.
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He said Nathanson turned him down in a July 1991 telephone conversation and said she would be interested in representing his wife.
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My first question is a result of a telephone conversation with Graham Bowie, chief executive of Lothian region.
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Our telephone conversations were eavesdropped, letters were posted unsealed and read by censors before going out into the world.
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Rain interrupted her telephone conversation to ask to see it.
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Our telephone conversations cement our client relationships. 6.
■ VERB
carry
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All of us have our underworld and nether world creatures with whom we carry on some inner conversation .
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She remembered giving secret names to things, carrying on conversations with chairs and trees.
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She sipped the wine, picked at the first course and let James Hamilton carry the conversation .
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He would talk to him in his imagination, carrying on whole conversations about baseball and school and girls.
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Midge and Angela, close together in the back, were carrying on their own conversation .
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Have you ever carried on a conversation with some one who has been smoking and drinking?
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Others achieved considerable proficiency and could carry on extended conversations .
continue
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When the pubs opened at five-thirty they went up the road to the Prince Albert and continued their conversation .
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So eventually they went downstairs to the parlor and continued the conversation there.
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They had continued their conversation after dinner, sitting in the comfortable bar.
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Hope and I continued our conversation a few weeks later, this time at his terraced house in Stoke Newington.
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I was thrilled at the prospect of continuing the conversation .
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The threat of the lawsuit continues to drive the conversation .
end
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Carlson didn't feel that this was the best way to end a conversation .
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They hurried to end any conversation and get on their way.
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Isabel turned, wanting to end the conversation .
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That ended our conversation , and a pall fell on our relationship after that.
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William No, stop-we can't end the conversation there.
engage
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In the office, some girls have engaged the secretary in conversation .
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They do not engage in conversation , nor do their faces express a desire to.
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Fingers subconsciously searching out damage beneath the glossy surface, while he otherwise engages in conversation .
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I was in terror that he might try to engage me in conversation .
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He'd got engaged in a conversation with Morag and was taking his time, but who could blame him?
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Imagine that you could engage in a conversation with the political gladiator, contemporary or historical, who most fascinates you.
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For a moment or two Joan and Atkins were engaged in a separate conversation from the rest of the group.
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Through the all-night watches he engaged officers in conversation , asked them questions about world affairs.
hear
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I had only half heard the conversation because part of my mind was far away.
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I could hear muffled conversation in the background.
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Carl had heard half of the conversation .
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She says she usually gets so engrossed that she doesn't hear conversations anywhere near her.
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You can hear their conversation if you like.
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He spoke so that you could not avoid hearing his conversation .
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You need to hear the conversation in your mind.
hold
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She's getting better at speech now, and hold a conversation , but she doesn't understand some things.
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Wynns held a colorful conversation with Sierra Club representative Howard Strassner to see if they could find middle ground.
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In any case, she couldn't have held a conversation there.
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If you tried at all to hold a conversation with her, you found she was almost impossible to understand.
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He can recite the alphabet and hold an intelligent conversation .
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If you can not hold a conversation with some one without getting out of breath then you are going too fast.
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For the first time ever, he felt that he had held an adult conversation with his son.
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He just wouldn't hold a conversation with him.
keep
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So Renwick kept the conversation innocuous, nothing to stir up any more tension in Moore.
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I told him I thought it would be prudent for both of us to keep our conversation between ourselves.
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Newman had kept the conversation general, fending Evelyn off when she tried to bring it on a more personal basis.
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I asked Fontaine to keep our conversation completely confidential.
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Anything to keep the conversation simple and unthreatening.
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It's like two people trying to keep up a conversation .
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Cara kept up a one-sided conversation .
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Okay - we both want to keep the conversation in neutral.
listen
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Four Galks stood listening to the conversation .
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I was certain that all the writers were listening to my conversation and were amused by it.
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Molassi had listened to the conversation between the clever boy and the pretty lady.
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Day after day, skilled linguists don headsets and listen to the stolen conversations of foreign leaders in more than 100 languages.
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I can also listen to a conversation between mining engineers and understand ninety-five percent of it, even after all these years.
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I melted into the wall and listened to snatches of conversation .
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Also, listening to people's conversations can be very enlightening and suggestive of ideas.
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I was listening to a conversation that had been going on for generations.
overhear
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Some one could follow you home after overhearing your conversation .
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I think I must have overheard telephone conversations about Margarett getting drunk and late-night parties at Prides.
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Rostov wondered if the Manchu had overheard the conversation , but he gave no sign.
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Hansel overheard the conversation and prepared for the inevitable by filling his pockets with pebbles.
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I overheard his name in conversation .
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People overhear conversations , what people have bought, what money they have.
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The man claims he overheard cockpit conversation about mechanical problems, not paperwork.
record
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But a tape, on which she recorded a conversation she had with Maurice a few weeks before her death.
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They often record the conversation and claim the recording is proof the deal is legitimate.
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Harvard responded by installing tapes to record all telephone conversations .
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That yielded, among other things, 50 hours of recorded conversation with Ames.
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He'd recorded a telephone conversation - a call he'd taken at home.
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They can zero in on this big wall map and pick any phone they want, and record the conversation .
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Fulton recorded a phone conversation with his handler earlier this year.
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I had the oddest feeling that he wanted to record our conversation .
remember
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But is it really possible for researchers to remember details of conversations as they claim to do?
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Dan and his brothers remembered that conversation on the porch.
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Many researchers are surprised and delighted at their ability to remember conversations almost word for word.
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Truitte remembered the conversation as lasting about seven minutes, a quick, relatively cool severance of an eight-year relationship.
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I remember two conversations I had with him during that first day's play.
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Vaguely she remembered a conversation she and Susan had had on Christmas Eve.
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She remembered now the conversation she had had with Bella about the Lock.
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But then I remembered a conversation I had overheard her having with her sister-in-law.
start
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She wished she hadn't started the conversation .
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The only way to act over this is to start a conversation with that person.
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We start with safe conversation and straight faces.
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The guy was oddly fascinated with Primo and kept trying to start a conversation .
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After I got started and into the conversation I felt a lot more comfortable.
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He starts a conversation and ends up heaven knows where.
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They tried to start a conversation , but it wasn't easy to make themselves heard above the music and chatter.
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We were being very careful not to start a conversation with any feeling in it.
steer
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Whenever this happens, the onus is on you to control the call and steer the conversation to a successful conclusion.
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Gordon finally roused himself and tried to steer the conversation toward shallower waters.
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Charles consumed most of the Valpolicella and tried to steer the conversation away from anything to do with Marius Steen.
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Maybe he was just trying to steer the conversation away from Theresa.
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Over breakfast Rain would steer the conversation around to asking Tim what he was arguing about with Sabine Jourdain.
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Then we were supposed to steer the conversation to a safer topic.
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Tonight, however, she was keen to steer the conversation round to the subject of Hugh Puddephat.
strike
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He struck up a conversation , first asking his name.
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Demonstrators will attempt to surround the police, strike up conversations and present them with letters.
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I recalled he had struck up an intimate conversation with her in the lobby after breakfast.
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Others prefer to strike up a conversation with table mates.
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Besides, Anna had struck up a conversation with a young girl who'd been swimming in the pool.
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I was clueless, of course, but it was an opportunity to strike up an amusing conversation .
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However, on striking up a conversation , Chalk, a little the worse for drink, became talkative and boastful.
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I, of course, had no choice but to strike up a conversation with the girl who sat next to me.
tape
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Even then they will have no evidence - unless perhaps they tape all conversations with their dealers, for themselves.
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Later, Fornek reported on his efforts to question Gingrich about the taped conversation that was picked up on a police scanner.
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A bodyguard taped their conversations , escaped abroad, then leaked excerpts to the opposition.
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Two days later, the taped conversation was in the papers.
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It is not known who taped the conversation or how.
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John and Alice Martin said in a news conference Monday that they had taped the conversation and given the tape to McDermott.
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Jim McDermott, D-Wash., after he was implicated in the leaking of a taped telephone conversation , Rep.
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Taken together, the taped conversations reveal a president seemingly consumed with the details of illegal plots against his enemies.
try
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When he came back on deck she tried once more to make conversation .
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Gordon finally roused himself and tried to steer the conversation toward shallower waters.
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But I don't like going to posh functions, trying to make conversation with silly people who have nothing to say.
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Maybe he was just trying to steer the conversation away from Theresa.
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He stank, kept trying to make slurred conversation , then fell asleep with his head on my shoulder.
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The guy was oddly fascinated with Primo and kept trying to start a conversation .
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Fred had tried to relate the conversation to Louise and Riley as he had heard it.
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Is that what you do when some one tries to have a conversation with you.
turn
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The telephone was just as it should be, with no bugging device to turn his private conversations into public knowledge.
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I am upset that these pointless matters turn our conversations negative.
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I often turn a conversation around to my interests. 12.
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But turn the conversation to education and all bets are off.
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How was he going to turn the conversation round to the subject of poison?
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But he turned the conversation to the actual sum they had amassed.
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When the impetuous wealthy young man rushed up to him, he turned the conversation to the subject of money.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a snatch of conversation/music/song etc
bring the conversation around/round to sth
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With the rector, however, Arthur still can not bring the conversation around to the confession he once planned to make.
deep in thought/conversation etc
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Anthea and the professor had been deep in conversation with an eager group of ladies from Leicester, leaving Meryl momentarily alone.
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Clarence and the mayor were still deep in conversation.
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He was deep in conversation with the daughter of the house, a little girl of about twelve.
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The boy-him, he had to remind himself-looked deep in thought.
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The Count was deep in conversation with the mayor, who was staring down at his feet.
hold a conversation
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Aileen knew how to hold a conversation with twelve people and work hard at the same time.
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He just wouldn't hold a conversation with him.
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If you can not hold a conversation with some one without getting out of breath then you are going too fast.
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If you tried at all to hold a conversation with her, you found she was almost impossible to understand.
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In any case, she couldn't have held a conversation there.
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She's getting better at speech now, and hold a conversation, but she doesn't understand some things.
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This involved being around, or hanging around, just watching, recording, holding conversations.
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What she did increasingly was to hold conversations with ha father from which Cara was carefully and deliberately excluded.
strike up a friendship/relationship/conversation etc
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At that time Worsley, who is married to Moody, had also struck up a friendship with Nance.
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Besides, Anna had struck up a conversation with a young girl who'd been swimming in the pool.
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Demonstrators will attempt to surround the police, strike up conversations and present them with letters.
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Eleanor wrote back wittily and they struck up a friendship.
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He struck up a conversation, first asking his name.
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He and Matthew struck up a friendship - they had something in common; their attitude to life.
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Others prefer to strike up a conversation with table mates.
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Peggy and James strike up a friendship.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪
a telephone conversation
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Baker's resignation became a hot topic of conversation around the office.
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Every time his father's name came up in conversation , Tom became nervous.
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I was too shy to start a conversation with anyone there.
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Martha's a fascinating woman. I really enjoyed our conversation .
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The buzz of conversation filled the hall.
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The noise of the traffic made conversation almost impossible.
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They didn't realize someone was taping their telephone conversation .
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Vicky was having a long conversation with the bartender.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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Clinton went on to quote it again during the State of the Union and in other public remarks or private conversations.
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Cooley presents a report of conversation with a former and a description of social conventions.
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Once my status is ascertained, the conversation quickly reverts to repartee.
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She did not wish to be having this conversation .
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She said Gloria was always trying to bust up their conversations.
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She shivered and watched Mrs Frizzell apprehensively as the buzz of conversation continued.
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The prototype of reciprocal discourse is face-to-face conversation .