chat up

/tʃæt əp/

Other forms: chatting up; chatted up; chats up

To chat up is to talk playfully or casually with someone, especially with the goal of convincing them to do something. Your brother might chat up a movie theater worker in the hopes of getting a free ticket.

When you chat someone up, your light banter is persuasive — although in many cases, your goal is simply to flirt, or simply to start a conversation. You could chat up your new classmate, or chat up your seatmate on a long airplane flight. Another way to use this phrase is chat someone up, as in, "I'm going to chat George up and see if he'll give me some of his pizza."

Definitions of chat up

1. verb

   talk to someone with the aim of persuading him
   type of:

   persuade

   cause somebody to adopt a certain position, belief, or course of action; twist somebody's arm
2. verb

   talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions
   “The guys always try to chat up the new secretaries”

   synonyms: butterfly, coquet, coquette, dally, flirt, mash, philander, romance

   types:

   wanton

   engage in amorous play

   vamp

   act seductively with (someone)

   type of:

   speak, talk

   exchange thoughts; talk with