Dictionary

Gchat en · NOUN

Etymology

From the first letter of Google + chat, after Gmail and Google Talk.

Meanings

1. (colloquial) A message or chat on Google Talk, Google Hangouts, or Google Chat.
   • I was getting Gchats from colleagues throughout the day who couldn't manage to put the book down to do their work. 2019 August 8, Jocelyn Silver, quoting Casey McQuiston, “How ‘Red, White & Royal Blue’ Became the Unlikely Book of the Summer”, in The Wall Street Journal, New York, N.Y.: Dow Jones & Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
   • So I asked two ex-girlfriends — who were kind enough to respond to my slightly deranged texts and Gchats — to tell me just what was so terrible about dating, as one put it, “an Echo-head.” 2018 April 17, Madison Malone Kircher, “My Exes, My Echo, and Me”, in Intelligencer, New York, N.Y.: New York Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 07 Nov 2018:
   • Recently, I got a Gchat from Brendan Emmett Quigley, who wanted to run a clue for the answer FAKE NEWS by me — “Indefinite article?”. 2017 January 14, Deb Amlen, quoting Joel Fagliano, “Grammar Lesson”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 Jan 2017:

Forms

Gchat en · PROPN

Etymology

From the first letter of Google + chat, after Gmail and Google Talk.

Meanings

1. (colloquial) A communication service developed by Google: Google Talk, Google Hangouts, or their replacement Google Chat.
   • "We're fucked," my adviser told me over Gchat. "Nelson"—Phil Nelson, the outspoken president of our university—"has been treating the endowment like his own personal poker game. I bet we're about to lose some unthinkable chunk of it. And if oil prices collapse, the campus in Qatar is in trouble." 2018, Keith Gessen, A Terrible Country: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Viking, →ISBN, pages 62–63:
   • Hangouts, which is commonly referred to by many as “Gchat,” has been having problems since at least 9:22 a.m., according to Google. [2014 March 17, Salvador Rodriguez, “Google Hangouts, Drive go down for some users, Twitter panic follows”, in Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 07 Jun 2014:
   • Let's first acknowledge that Gchat was never officially called Gchat. Launched in February 2006, Google named it Google Talk, refusing to refer to it by its colloquial name. For anyone mourning its demise, which the company announced in a March blog post, those names sound awkward, like they're describing something else. To me, and to many other users, it's Gchat, and always will be. 2017 June 26, Colleen Rothman, “RIP Gchat”, in Jeffrey Goldberg, editor, The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 02 Jul 2022:

Forms

Relateds

Google Chat

Synonyms

Gmessage · Gtalk

Gchat en · VERB

Etymology

From the first letter of Google + chat, after Gmail and Google Talk.

Meanings

1. (ambitransitive, colloquial) To talk (to someone) via Google Talk, Google Hangouts, or Google Chat; to send (someone) a message on any of these services.
   • 2:55 p.m.: Pseudo Gchats me. Looks like he might be interested in hanging out tonight after all. 2008 August 4, Arianne Cohen, “The Aspiring Cool Best Friend With Benefits”, in Intelligencer, New York, N.Y.: New York Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Nov 2018:
   • The other is the “friendternet,” where I cruise through Instagram, Gchat with people, field messages about birthday dinners and wedding showers, and generally do things that feel extracurricular, like deleting emails from ZocDoc. 2015 June 19, Laura Bennett, “What I Read (Even When I’m Not Trying to Impress You)”, in Slate, New York, N.Y.: The Slate Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 Apr 2019:
   • A few months ago, a friend from graduate school asked if I wanted to Gchat (which has since folded into Google Hangouts). 2017 November 3, JoAnna Novak, “AIM was more than a chat app. It taught girls to be comfortable with their sexuality.”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 Nov 2017:
   • A few days later, Dima Gchatted me to say that he had lost the final hearing on his case; […] 2018, Keith Gessen, A Terrible Country: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Viking, →ISBN, page 253:
   • We Skype, Viber and Gchat every day. 2014 January 10, Betsy Farber, “Love across the International Date Line”, in Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 Jul 2025:
2. (colloquial, ditransitive) To send (something) to (someone) via Google Talk, Google Hangouts, or Google Chat.
   • My 140-character journey began when my friend Diana Gchatted me a no-fuss elevator pitch during the mid-workday afternoon slump: “Hey, I’m on this new site where you can write and post short thoughts. I think you’d be good at it.” 2017 February 24, Aparna Nancherla, “To Tweet Is Human, to Delete Divine”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 Feb 2017:
   • But in an effort to cheer myself up just a bit, I decided to play a practical joke on my sister, since I knew I wouldn’t be sending a “Guess who’s engaged?” e-mail for a while. I Gchatted Jasmine that exact message, snickering because I’d done this two times before, and she’d freaked out every single time. 2017 March 21, Joi-Marie McKenzie, chapter 3, in The Engagement Game: Why I Said “I Don’t” to Marriage and “I Do” to Me, New York, N.Y.: Center Street, →ISBN, page 20:
   • If someone tweets or Gchats you a term you don’t understand, you can just fire up Urban [Dictionary] to find the definition. 2014 September 12, Hannah Jane Parkinson, “The ultimate glossary of all things internet: from 4chan to Zynga”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 12 Sep 2014:
   • As we both typed away in our respective rooms, she would Gchat me things like, “I put 20 gumballs in my mouth and am topless.” 2021 February 16, Tracy Clark-Flory, “Cautionary”, in Want Me: A Sex Writer’s Journey into the Heart of Desire, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 97:

Forms