talk back

talk back
phrasal verb [intransitive]
Word forms "talk back":
present tense I/you/we/they talk back he/she/it talks back present participle talking back past tense talked back past participle talked back
to reply quickly and often rudely to something that someone says. This expression is used especially to describe children being rude to their parents
talk back to:

Melanie, don't talk back to your mother!


English dictionary. 2014.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • talk back to — talk back (to (someone)) to answer rudely. They were arrested on minor charges after talking back to a police officer. In my family, kids just never talked back. Etymology: based on the literal meaning of talk back (= to answer someone) …   New idioms dictionary

  • talk back — (to (someone)) to answer rudely. They were arrested on minor charges after talking back to a police officer. In my family, kids just never talked back. Etymology: based on the literal meaning of talk back (= to answer someone) …   New idioms dictionary

  • talk\ back — • talk back • answer back v informal To answer rudely; reply in a disrespectful way; be fresh. When the teacher told the boy to sit down, he talked back to her and said she couldn t make him. Mary talked back when her mother told her to stop… …   Словарь американских идиом

  • talk back — ANSWER BACK, be impertinent, be cheeky, be rude; contradict, argue with, disagree with. → talk * * * intransitive verb Etymology: talk (I) + back, adverb : to speak in answer usually to a command or admonishment in a flippant or impertinent… …   Useful english dictionary

  • talk back — v. (D; intr.) to talk back to (to talk back to one s boss) * * * [ tɔːk bæk] (D;intr.) to talk back to (to talk back to one s boss) …   Combinatory dictionary

  • talk back — PHRASAL VERB If you talk back to someone in authority such as a parent or teacher, you answer them in a rude way. [V P to n] How dare you talk back to me! [V P] ...I talked back and asked questions. Syn: answer back …   English dictionary

  • talk-back — ˈ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷ noun ( s) Etymology: from the phrase talk back, from talk (I) + back, adverb : a two way radio system providing especially for one receiving instructions or directions to speak back to the instructor; especially : such a system set …   Useful english dictionary

  • talk-back — /tawk bak /, n. Radio and Television. a communications system enabling those in the studio to hear control room personnel through a loudspeaker or headphones. [n. use of v. phrase talk back] * * * …   Universalium

  • talk back — reply without respect, lip off    In China, kids don t talk back to their parents, do they? …   English idioms

  • talk back — answer rudely She is very strict and never allows her children to talk back to her …   Idioms and examples

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