dialogue

Pluraldialogues

Formsdialogues, dialoguing, dialogued

1. 1
   talking togethernouncountable or uncountable

   A conversation or other exchange of words, spoken or written, between two or more people.

   The radio programme was built around a frank dialogue between a retired nurse and a young doctor about how hospitals have changed.

   After months of silence, the neighbours finally entered into dialogue about the boundary hedge.

   UsageOften a dialogue with or between people; without a, groups enter into dialogue.

   Similardiscussion

   Note

   The dia- at the front is Greek for "through", not "two": the word came through Late Latin and Old French from Greek diálogos, "conversation", built from diá and lógos, "speech". So a dialogue can have any number of speakers.

2. 2
   characters' linesnoununcountable

   In a play, film, novel or similar work, the lines that the characters or performers speak.

   The novelist has a real ear for dialogue, and her characters sound like people you might meet on the bus.

   The actors were given only a rough outline and made up most of their dialogue on the spot.

   UsageFor a single bit, say a line of dialogue or a piece of dialogue.

   Note

   In film-making the word also names the spoken part of the soundtrack, recorded and edited apart from music and sound effects, as in dialogue recording or a dialogue editor. In documentaries it was once a novelty: Housing Problems (1935) recorded slum tenants talking directly, letting the people it filmed speak for themselves. Source

   Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • Film production treats dialogue recordings separately from music and sound effects. en.wikipedia.org
   • Housing Problems is a documentary film released in 1935. en.wikipedia.org
   • Letting documentary subjects speak for themselves was an innovation exemplified by Housing Problems. open.ac.uk
   • Housing Problems recorded slum residents speaking for themselves in interviews. anthro-age.pitt.edu
3. 3
   nouncountable or uncountable

   Formal discussions in which countries, organisations or other groups try to resolve their disagreements or come to a common understanding.

   The two governments agreed to resume dialogue after a year of rising tension on the border.

   The council has opened a dialogue with residents' groups over plans for the new bypass.

   UsageUsually dialogue with or between groups; governments open, resume or hold a dialogue.

   Similartalks, negotiation

4. 4
   literary formnouncountable or uncountable

   A form of writing, used especially in philosophy, in which a work is laid out as if it were a conversation between speakers.

   Plato's dialogues show Socrates questioning his friends about justice and courage.

   The professor wrote her short book on free will as a dialogue between a student and a sceptic.

   Note

   The noun names both the form and a single work written in it: a treatise may be written in dialogue, with no article, while each piece is a dialogue, as in the dialogues of ancient Greek philosophers. The speakers usually argue a question in turn, so one voice raises an objection and another answers it. Source

   Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Ancient Greek philosophers wrote dialogues. en.wikipedia.org
   • Philosophical dialogues characteristically present arguments through exchanges between speakers. en.wikipedia.org
5. 5
   on-screen boxnouncountable or uncountable

   Variant spelling of dialog in computing: a window that asks the user to choose or enter something. US software usually spells it dialog.

   When the print dialogue opens, choose the number of copies and click OK.

   A dialogue popped up asking whether I wanted to save my changes before closing.

   Note

   In software the clipped word is countable and usually takes its name from the task it serves or the setting it changes: the print dialogue, the save dialogue, the font dialogue in a word processor.

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