gossip
verb/ˈɡɒsɪp/
/ˈɡɑːsɪp/
[intransitive]Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they gossip | /ˈɡɒsɪp/ /ˈɡɑːsɪp/ |
| he / she / it gossips | /ˈɡɒsɪps/ /ˈɡɑːsɪps/ |
| past simple gossiped | /ˈɡɒsɪpt/ /ˈɡɑːsɪpt/ |
| past participle gossiped | /ˈɡɒsɪpt/ /ˈɡɑːsɪpt/ |
| -ing form gossiping | /ˈɡɒsɪpɪŋ/ /ˈɡɑːsɪpɪŋ/ |
- to talk about other people’s private lives, often in an unkind way
- I can't stand here gossiping all day.
- gossip about somebody/something People have been gossiping about you.
Word Originlate Old English godsibb, ‘godfather, godmother, baptismal sponsor’, literally ‘a person related to one in God’, from god ‘God’ + sibb ‘a relative’ (see sib). In Middle English the sense was ‘a close friend, a person with whom one gossips’, hence ‘a person who gossips’, later (early 19th cent.) ‘idle talk’ (from the verb, which dates from the early 17th cent.).Want to learn more?
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gossip