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n. 1. a. A conversation between two or more people. b. A discussion of positions or beliefs, especially between groups to resolve a disagreement. 2. a. Conversation between characters in a drama or narrative. b. The lines or passages in a script that are intended to be spoken. 3. A literary work written in the form of a conversation: the dialogues of Plato. 4. Music A composition or passage for two or more parts, suggestive of conversational interplay. v. di·a·logued, di·a·logu·ing, di·a·logues or di·a·loged or di·a·log·ing or di·a·logs v.tr. To express as or in a dialogue: dialogued parts of the story. v.intr. To engage in a dialogue. [Middle English dialog, from Old French dialogue, from Latin dialogus, from Greek dialogos, conversation, from dialegesthai, to discuss; see DIALECT.] dia·log′uer n. Usage Note: Although use of the verb dialogue meaning "to engage in an exchange of views" is widespread, the Usage Panel has little affection for it. In our 2009 survey, 80 percent of the Panel rejected the sentence The department was remiss in not trying to dialogue with representatives of the community before hiring new officers. This represents some erosion of the 98 percent who rejected this example in 1988, but resistance is still very strong. A number of Panelists felt moved to comment on the ugliness or awkwardness of the construction. |
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