Chatter means to talk quickly and continuously about unimportant things, often in a cheerful or excited way. When friends chatter during lunch about their favorite games, weekend plans, or funny things that happened in class, they're having light, easy conversations that bounce from topic to topic.

The word often describes the kind of talking that fills silence without saying anything particularly important. A group of students might chatter before class starts, their voices blending into a steady hum of conversation. Sometimes teachers have to quiet the chatter when it's time to focus on a lesson.

Animals make sounds we also call chatter. Squirrels chatter with rapid, clicking noises when alarmed. Monkeys chatter in the trees. Birds sometimes create such a racket of chirping and calling that we describe it as chattering.

Your teeth might chatter when you're very cold, knocking together rapidly and making clicking sounds you can't control. This physical meaning captures that same sense of rapid, repetitive movement or sound.

The word isn't usually negative, but sometimes people use it critically, like when someone complains about idle chatter that distracts from work. Still, friendly chatter helps people connect and can create the comfortable background noise of a community going about its day.