negotiate

Verb

negotiate (third-person singular simple present negotiates, present participle negotiating, simple past and past participle negotiated)

1. (intransitive) To confer with others in order to come to terms or reach an agreement.
   • "You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue."1963, Martin Luther King, Jr., to the eight fellow clergymen who opposed the civil rights action, "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Why We Can't Wait

   Synonyms:

   treat

2. (transitive) To arrange or settle something by mutual agreement.
   • We negotiated the contract to everyone's satisfaction.
   • The client and server computers must first negotiate a network protocol to be used.
3. (transitive) To succeed in coping with, getting over or navigate a hazard or obstacle.
   • We negotiated the mountain track with difficulty.
   • Although the car was quite rickety, he could negotiate the curves very well.
4. (transitive) To transfer to another person with all the rights of the original holder; to pass, as a bill.
5. (obsolete) To transact business; to carry on trade.
   • Jews, Turks, Armenians,[…]negotiating in this famous Emporium.1645 June 10 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for June 1645]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition, volume I...
6. (obsolete) To intrigue; to scheme.
   • Certaine it is, shee was a busie negotiating woman.1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret...