Usually Talk, especially meaningless or unimportant talk.
Although hardly coming under my theme, I cannot omit this: "Against a woman's chatter: Taste at night fasting a root of radish, that day the chatter cannot harm thee."1940, Rosetta E. Clarkson, Green Enchantments: The Magic Spell of Gardens, The Macmillan Company, page 257:
2
Usually The sound of talking.
3
Usually The vocalisations of a Eurasian magpie, Pica pica.
4
Usually The vocalisations of various birds or other animals.
The hare cried and complained of the terrible February cold and the disgusting chatter of the owls[.]1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 117:
At dawn and at sunset the howler monkeys screamed together and the parakeets broke into shrill chatter, but during the hot hours of the day only the full drone of insects, like the beat of a distant surf, filled the ear, while nothing moved amid the solemn vistas of stupendous trunks, fading away into the darkness which held us in.1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, “‘The Outlying Pickets of the New World’”, in The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC, page 114:
1 more example
The wind rose as the earth darkened, so that fading chatters of woodland animals were countered by the strengthening sounds of waving trees […]2016, Cornelia F. Mutel, A Sugar Creek Chronicle, page 41:
5
Usually An intermittent noise, as from vibration.
Proper brake adjustment will help to reduce the chatter.
6
Usually In national security, the degree of communication between suspect groups and individuals, used to gauge the degree of expected terrorist activity.
The NSA is concerned about increased chatter between known terror groups.
7
Usually The situation where a drill or similar tool vibrates and tears the material rather than cutting it cleanly.
Etymology From Middle English chateren, from earlier cheteren, chiteren (“to twitter, chatter, jabber”), of imitative origin. Compare Saterland Frisian tjoaterje (“to chatter”), West Frisian tsjotterje (“to chatter”), Dutch schateren, schetteren (“chatter”), Dutch koeteren (“jabber”), Middle Low German kidderen (“to chatter”), German Low German queteln (“to chatter”), dialectal German kaudern (“to gobble (like a turkey)”), Danish kvidre (“to twitter, chirp”).
1
To talk idly.
They knitted and chattered the whole time.
That teacheth trickes eleuen and twentie long, / To tame a ſhrew, and charme her chattering tongue.c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 222:
2
Usually, Of teeth To make a noise by rapid collisions.
He was so cold that his teeth were chattering.
The software in modern machine tools can often predict and prevent movements that would cause the cutting tool to chatter.
3
To utter sounds which somewhat resemble language, but are inarticulate and indistinct.
The jay makes answer, as the magpie chatters with delight.1815 [1802], William Wordsworth, Resolution and Independence:
Is your cat intently staring out the window at a bird on a branch and “chattering” in a kind of shaky, high-pitched, breathy way? If so, she is expressing excitement at what she's observing (or maybe the desire to attack what she sees as prey).2016, David Meyer, Abbie Moore, Pia Salk, The Total Cat Manual, Weldon Owen International, →ISBN:
During the chat sessions, two outreach team members would engage in a conversation about the topic chosen for that event in the main chat room and entice other chatters to join in.2013, Michael K. Sullivan, Sexual Minorities, page 148: