noun
ADJECTIVE
▪ brief , short
▪ lengthy , long
▪
We engaged in a long ~.
▪ endless , pointless
▪
We had to listen to endless ~s about high prices and food shortages.
▪ everyday , general , normal , ordinary
▪ casual , idle , informal
▪
It's not a subject that often crops up in casual ~.
▪ intimate , personal , private
▪ face-to-face , one-on-one ( AmE )
▪
The two of you need to have a face-to-face ~.
▪ one-sided , two-way
▪
Think of prayer as a two-way ~.
▪ phone , telephone
▪ overheard , recorded , taped
▪ civilized , polite
▪
We sat making polite ~ and feeling rather uncomfortable.
▪ friendly , pleasant
▪ animated , lively
▪ heated
▪ fascinating , good , intelligent , interesting , stimulating
▪
He said that television had been the death of good ~.
▪ candid , honest
▪ deep , in-depth , meaningful , proper , real , serious
▪
There was no time for a proper ~.
▪ simple
▪
When you are struggling with an unfamiliar language, the simplest ~s can be misinterpreted.
▪ strange
▪ chance
▪
A chance ~ led to a brilliant new career for the young student.
▪ awkward , desultory , halting , stilted
▪
We carried on a rather awkward ~.
▪ hushed , murmured , quiet , whispered
▪ ongoing ( esp. AmE )
▪
There is an ongoing ~ in society about how we raise our children.
▪ imaginary
▪ after-dinner , dinner
▪ adult
▪
Young children become quickly bored by adult ~.
▪ water-cooler ( AmE )
▪
The book became an instant best-seller and topic of water-cooler ~ ( = a popular subject for discussion, for example between people who work together ).
… OF CONVERSATION
▪ snatch
▪
I overheard snatches of a ~ between two doctors.
VERB + CONVERSATION
▪ carry on , have , hold , make
▪
You can't hold a private ~ there.
▪
I tried to make ~ with the three people around the table.
▪ begin , initiate , open , spark , start , strike up
▪
He was waiting for her to open the ~.
▪ draw sb into , engage sb in
▪
When I tried to engage him in ~, she always interrupted.
▪ fall into , get into
▪
I got into ~ with one of the directors. ( BrE )
▪
I got into a ~ with Chris about UFOs. ( AmE )
▪ be deep in , be engaged in
▪
They were deep in ~ and didn't notice the time.
▪ continue , keep up
▪
Cara kept up a one-sided ~.
▪ control , dominate
▪ bring around , bring round ( esp. BrE ), steer , turn
▪
I managed to bring the ~ around to why they were leaving.
▪
He tried to steer the ~ away from the topic of money.
▪
She turned the ~ to her work.
▪ enter , join , join in
▪ break off
▪ conclude , end , finish
▪ avoid
▪
She avoided ~ with the other passengers.
▪ encourage
▪
I was courteous but didn't encourage ~.
▪ hear , listen to , overhear
▪ record , tape
▪
Police taped the ~.
▪ break into , interrupt
▪ resume
▪ recall , remember
▪
I recall a ~ in which he told me he would never leave Paris.
CONVERSATION + VERB
▪ occur , take place
▪
When did this ~ take place?
▪ continue , proceed
▪
The ~ proceeded in French.
▪ flow
▪
They all relaxed and ~ flowed freely.
▪ come around to sth , come round to sth ( esp. BrE ), drift , move on (to sth) , switch , turn to sth , veer back to sth , veer off sth
▪
The ~ drifted away from babies.
▪
The ~ moved on to other things.
▪
The ~ turned to football.
▪ revolve around
▪ cease , end , stop
▪
All ~ ceased and everyone turned around.
▪
The ~ ended when the vacuum cleaner started up.
▪ die , die away , die down
▪ dry up ( BrE ), run dry ( esp. AmE )
▪
All too soon the stilted ~ ran dry.
PREPOSITION
▪ during ~
▪
In the Western world it is polite to maintain eye contact during ~.
▪ in ~ with
▪
In tonight's show we hear Chris Toole in ~ with the artist Mary Withers.
▪ ~ about
▪
We had a long ~ about old cars.
▪ ~ between
▪
a ~ between Jane and her parents
▪ ~ on
▪
a ~ on the topic of activities for children
▪ ~ with
▪
I had an interesting ~ with Dick Wortley.
PHRASES
▪ an attempt at ~
▪
She ignored all my attempts at ~.
▪ be in … conversation (with sb)
▪
Don was in close ~ with the girl on his right.
▪ a buzz of ~ , a hum of ~
▪
She could hear him over the buzz of ~ and laughter.
▪ during the course of (the) ~
▪
During the course of ~, it emerged that Sheila had lived in Nigeria.
▪ keep the ~ going
▪
Our hostess did her best to keep the ~ going.
▪ a lull in the ~
▪ a topic of ~
▪
The main topic of ~ was the war.