ENGLISH
REFERENCE

yak

v.
C2 Proficiency US //ˈjæk// yak Slang

v. to talk for a long time about things that are not very important. It is a casual way to say someone is chatting too much.

v. to engage in persistent, trivial, or noisy conversation. Often carries a slightly critical or dismissive tone regarding the value of the speech.


SIMPLE

They stayed on the phone to yak for hours about nothing.

COMPLEX

While the committee members yakked on about minor procedural details, the actual deadline for the proposal passed without a single vote being cast.

Synonyms
Etymology 1

Borrowed from Tibetan གཡག (g.yag). See there for more.

Etymology 2

Apparently an onomatopoeia.

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Korean 약 (yak).

Etymology 4

Shortening of various unrelated words.

Usage

The verb is intransitive and often pairs with the particle 'on'.

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