Word.ws English Dictionary

talking back

talking back is the present participle and gerund of talk back.

Meaning of talk back

Verb

talk back (third-person singular simple present talks back, present participle talking back, simple past and past participle talked back)

  1. (idiomatic, intransitive, often) To reply impertinently or rudely; to answer in a cheeky or rude manner.
    • Jane talked back a little too often.
    Synonyms:
    backtalk
  2. (idiomatic) To return disrespect.
    Synonyms:
    answer back

Questions about talking back

What is talking back the present participle and gerund of?
Talking back is the present participle and gerund of talk back.

Words near talking back in the dictionary

  1. talking about
  2. talking about the weather
  3. talking against time
  4. talking around
  5. talking at
  6. talking back
  7. talking big
  8. talking blues
  9. talking board
  10. talking boards
  11. talking book

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: talking back (page history and authors); talk back (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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