talk down
Britishverb
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to behave (towards) in a superior or haughty manner
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(tr) to override (a person or argument) by continuous or loud talking
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(tr) to give instructions to (an aircraft) by radio to enable it to land
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Belittle, depreciate, as in They talked down the importance of the move .
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Silence someone by speaking loudly and persistently, as in They talked down whatever objections she brought up . [Early 1800s]
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Help an aircraft to land by giving directions via radio, as in The fog was so thick the control tower had to talk us down . [c. 1940]
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See talk down to .
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She always hated being talked down to or told that she was too young for something.
From Literature
Relations between the two men were initially strained, after Jackson criticised Obama for "talking down to black people".
From BBC
For some reason, Mom’s words feel like she’s talking down to me, like I’m some baby who just stopped putting sharp objects in his mouth.
From Literature
What I am saying is that, if you have never found yourself in a situation where your life does a complete 180, it’s wrong to talk down to anyone.
From MarketWatch
So why is Broadcom talking down its major success with Google?
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
