palavering

Noun

palaver (countable and uncountable, plural palavers)

1. (Africa) A village council meeting.
   • Here we remained four days, on account of a palaver which was held on the following occasion.1799, Mungo Park, Travels in the Interior of Africa
2. (Canada, US, archaic) Talk, especially unnecessary talk; chatter.
   • Frances pulled his hair heartily, and then went and seated herself on her husband’s knee, and there they were, like two babies, kissing and talking nonsense by the hour—foolish palaver that we should be ashamed of.1847, Emily Brontë, chapter III, in Wuthering Heights

   Synonyms:

   hot air, babble, bavardage, bibble-babble, blab, blabber, blabbing, blather, blathering, chatter

3. (UK) Mentally draining activity, either physical or fuss.
   • What a palaver!

   Synonyms:

   ado, bother, argy-bargy, bangarang, bobbery, brouhaha, bunfight, bustle, bust-up, chaos

4. A meeting at which there is much talk; a debate; a moot.
   • this country and epoch of parliaments and eloquent palavers1851, Thomas Carlyle, The Life of John Sterling, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC
5. (informal) Disagreement.
   • I have no palaver with him.

   Synonyms:

   conflict, quarrel, argument, argy-bargy, altercation, contention, barney, bawl out, blue, bobbery

6. Talk intended to deceive.

   Synonyms:

   doublespeak, double talk

See all 8 meanings of palaver