to engage in banter
- phrasal verb
- /ɪnˈɡeɪdʒ ɪn ˈbæn.tər/
- Informal
:
intercambiar bromas
- They love to engage in banter during lunch breaks.
Examples
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Why don't you engage in banter with your colleagues?
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She loves engaging in banter with her friends after work.
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The two colleagues would often engage in banter during their lunch breaks.
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While waiting at the bus stop, they engaged in banter to pass the time.
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At the party, Sarah and John enjoyed to engage in banter while sharing funny stories.
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During lunch, the coworkers often engage in banter about their favorite TV shows.
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It's fun to engage in banter with friends when discussing movies and music.
Synonyms
476
1.0
To say or do something to make people laugh
40
2.4
To say funny things and behave in a playful way to make people laugh
40
1.6
To talk in a friendly, casual way about a subject
9
4.6
To tease someone in a friendly, playful way
7
3.0
To talk in a friendly, light way about unimportant things
5
7.1
To argue in a friendly, quick way without serious anger
2
8.1
To chat in a relaxed way about everyday things
2
2.2
To laugh together with someone about something funny
To talk in a lively, informal way about things like music
Antonyms
How Playful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'engage in' = to take part in, and 'banter' = light, playful teasing, so together they mean 'to participate in light, playful conversation.' This verb + preposition + noun pattern is common and cross-linguistically regular, making the phrase immediately inferable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
Engage in banter paints a small picture: to engage means to join in, and banter is like short jokes or teasing that people toss back and forth like a ball. So, engage in banter means 'to take part in a light, playful conversation'.