dialogue

/ˌdaɪəˈlɔg/

/ˈdaɪəlɒg/

Other forms: dialogues

If you land a role in a local play, you will probably have to memorize several lines of dialogue. If you disagree with how that play is being produced, you may want to open up a dialogue with the director.

Dialogue can refer to spoken lines in a dramatic performance such as a play, a film, or a television show. It is also any conversation between two or more people. On the written page, dialogue between characters is usually enclosed by quotation marks. When persons representing different political parties or different nations are said to engage in a dialogue, it means they are probably negotiating something of importance.

Definitions of dialogue

1. noun

   a conversation between two persons
   synonyms: dialog, duologue

   type of:

   talk, talking

   an exchange of ideas via conversation
2. noun

   a discussion intended to produce an agreement
   “they disagreed but kept an open dialogue”

   synonyms: negotiation, talks

   types:

   parley

   a negotiation between enemies

   diplomacy, diplomatic negotiations

   negotiation between nations

   bargaining

   the negotiation of the terms of a transaction or agreement

   collective bargaining

   negotiation between an employer and a trade union

   horse trading

   negotiation accompanied by mutual concessions and shrewd bargaining

   mediation

   a negotiation to resolve differences that is conducted by some impartial party

   plea bargain, plea bargaining

   (criminal law) a negotiation in which the defendant agrees to enter a plea of guilty to a lesser charge and the prosecutor agrees to drop a more serious charge

   dollar diplomacy

   foreign policy influenced by economic considerations

   gunboat diplomacy, power politics

   diplomacy in which the nations threaten to use force in order to obtain their objectives

   recognition

   the explicit and formal acknowledgement of a government or of the national independence of a country

   shuttle diplomacy

   international negotiations conducted by a mediator who frequently flies back and forth between the negotiating parties

   haggle, haggling, wrangle, wrangling

   an instance of intense argument (as in bargaining)

   holdout

   a refusal by a negotiator to come to terms in the hope of obtaining a better deal

   arbitration

   (law) the hearing and determination of a dispute by an impartial referee agreed to by both parties (often used to settle disputes between labor and management)

   conciliation

   any of various forms of mediation whereby disputes may be settled short of arbitration

   umpirage

   mediation by an umpire

   type of:

   discussion, give-and-take, word

   an exchange of views on some topic
3. noun

   the lines spoken by characters in drama or fiction
   synonyms: dialog

   types:

   duologue

   a part of the script in which the speaking roles are limited to two actors

   type of:

   book, playscript, script

   a written version of a play or other dramatic composition; used in preparing for a performance
4. noun

   a literary composition in the form of a conversation between two people
   “he has read Plato's Dialogues in the original Greek”

   synonyms: dialog

   type of:

   literary composition, literary work

   imaginative or creative writing