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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Conversation \Con`ver*sa"tion\, n. [OE. conversacio (in senses 1
& 2), OF. conversacion, F. conversation, fr. L. conversatio
frequent abode in a place, intercourse, LL. also, manner of
life.]
1. General course of conduct; behavior. [Archaic]
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Let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel.
--Philip. i.
27.
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2. Familiar intercourse; intimate fellowship or association;
close acquaintance. "Conversation with the best company."
--Dryden.
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I set down, out of long experience in business and
much conversation in books, what I thought pertinent
to this business. --Bacon.
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3. Commerce; intercourse; traffic. [Obs.]
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All traffic and mutual conversation. --Hakluyt.
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4. Colloquial discourse; oral interchange of sentiments and
observations; informal dialogue.
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The influence exercised by his [Johnson's]
conversation was altogether without a parallel.
--Macaulay.
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5. Sexual intercourse; as, criminal conversation.

Syn: Intercourse; communion; commerce; familiarity;
discourse; dialogue; colloquy; talk; chat.

Usage: {Conversation}, {Talk}. There is a looser sense of
these words, in which they are synonymous; there is a
stricter sense, in which they differ. Talk is usually
broken, familiar, and versatile. Conversation is more
continuous and sustained, and turns ordinarily upon
topics or higher interest. Children talk to their
parents or to their companions; men converse together
in mixed assemblies. Dr. Johnson once remarked, of an
evening spent in society, that there had been a great
deal of talk, but no conversation.
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