Sample sentences for PALAVER - verbalworkout.com

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Definition

talk — typically empty talk or flattery

Less commonly (and sometimes more specifically), palaver can refer to:

a long talk or meeting
excessive talk to no good end or to a meeting with such talk
anything that is a bother or waste of time

She hates positive thinking palaver.

palaver = empty talk

The website gets past the usual palaver and tells what it is really like to attend each college.

palaver = talk

...as if she'd give in to any such smooth-tongued palaver.
George Eliot -- Adam Bede
Don't stand there palavering all day, but out with you and see if there's a fish on the lines for breakfast.
Mark Twain -- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

palavering = talking (about nothing important)

Anyhow, after some palavering among the bench, the Prosecutor, and my counsel, the presiding judge announced that the court would now rise; there was an adjournment till the afternoon, when evidence would be taken.
Albert Camus -- The Stranger

palavering = talking

He palavered her into going along
Will Jr said it was full of pointless froth, mere tiresome palaver, a tiresome rumble of symbolism.
John Gardner -- The Sunlight Dialogues
He often asked them to hold such palavers, as he called them.
Chinua Achebe -- Things Fall Apart
After a little palaver, Ralph said, "No problem."
Tracy Kidder -- Mountains Beyond Mountains
Probably nothing to all the palaver about her.
John Steinbeck -- East of Eden
THE GUNSLINGER AND THE DARKMAN I The man in black led him to an ancient killing ground to make palaver.
Stephen King -- The Gunslinger
So after a great deal of palaver and good-natured argument, we reached what might be called a compromise.
William Styron -- Sophie's Choice
At that point a certain amount of palavering ensued.
Stieg Larsson -- The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
So my 'Footnote' deals with tactical palavers of no real importance.
Pat Frank -- Alas, Babylon
Poyser might sit down if he liked, she thought; she wasn't going to sit down, as if she'd give in to any such smooth-tongued palaver.
George Eliot -- Adam Bede
Jake was not listening to the palaver very closely.
Larry McMurtry -- Lonesome Dove
I palavered with Bud an' I wanted to know.
Zane Grey -- The Man of the Forest
"And now our palaver is finished," I said.
Ralph Ellison -- Invisible Man
Much later that night, Mebratu and Ghosh palavered over cognac and cigars.
Abraham Verghese -- Cutting for Stone
Drouet was palavering himself with the looseness of excitement and passion.
Theodore Dreiser -- Sister Carrie

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