shoot the breeze
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Related to shoot the breeze: same old same old, run errands
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shoot the breeze
To chat or converse aimlessly or casually, without any serious topic of conversation. Customers always want to shoot the breeze with me in the store before they buy something. I just shot the breeze with John for a while when he passed me on the street.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
shoot the breeze
Fig. to chat casually and without purpose. We spent the entire afternoon just shooting the breeze. It was good to shoot the breeze with you, Mary.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
shoot the breeze
Also, shoot or throw the bull . Talk idly, chat, as in They've been sitting on the porch for hours, just shooting the breeze, or The guys sit around the locker room, throwing the bull. The first of these slangy terms, alluding to talking into the wind, was first recorded in 1919. In the variant, first recorded in 1908, bull is a shortening of bullshit, and means "empty talk" or "lies."
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
shoot the breeze
AMERICAN, INFORMALIf you shoot the breeze, you talk with other people in an informal and friendly way. Goldie does what she likes doing best: shooting the breeze about life, love, and her bad reputation. He's very awkward on social occasions. If you're sitting around a big table in the members' dining room, he won't shoot the breeze like the rest of them. Note: The sense of `shoot' used here is the same as `shoot the rapids', suggesting riding or being carried along by the flow of a conversation.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
shoot the breeze (or the bull)
have a casual conversation. North American informalFarlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
shoot the ˈbreeze
(also shoot the ˈbull/ˈshit taboo) (both American English, informal) talk in a friendly, informal way; chat: We sat around in the bar, shooting the breeze.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
shoot the breeze
tv. to chat casually and without purpose. We spent the entire afternoon just shooting the breeze.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
shoot the breeze
/bull Slang To spend time talking in an idle manner; talk idly.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.