<B>conversance, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the state or quality of being conversant. </DL>
<A NAME="conversancy">
<B>conversancy, </B>noun. =conversance.</DL>
<A NAME="conversant">
<B>conversant, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>familiar by use or study; acquainted. <BR> <I>Ex. The conductor is conversant with all of the instruments of the orchestra. Students who play football are conversant with the rules of the game.</I> (SYN) skilled, proficient, versed. <DD><B> 2. </B>on terms of familiarity (with); intimately associated. <BR> <I>Ex. The boy became conversant with the policemen in his neighborhood.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Obsolete.) accustomed to live or spend time in a certain place. adv. <B>conversantly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="conversation">
<B>conversation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>friendly talk, exchange of thoughts by talking informally together. <BR> <I>Ex. Many people say that conversation in a fast-moving world is becoming a lost art.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a talk; a meeting for the purpose of informal talk. <BR> <I>Ex. The professor invited his students to his home for a conversation.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>an informal meeting of representatives of two or more governments, often preliminary to a formal conference. <DD><B> 4. </B>sexual intercourse or intimacy. <BR> <I>Ex. In law, adultery is called criminal conversation.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Archaic.) the way a person conducts himself; behavior. <DD><B> 6. </B>(Obsolete.) dealing with other people; familiar association. <DD><B> 7. </B>(Obsolete.) familiar acquaintance from using or studying; a being conversant. <BR><I>expr. <B>make conversation,</B> </I>to converse for the sake of conversing; engage in small talk. <BR> <I>Ex. She liked to drop in on her neighbors to make conversation.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="conversational">
<B>conversational, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of or having to do with conversation. <DD><B> 2. </B>fond of conversation; good at conversation. <DD><B> 3. </B>characteristic of conversation; familiar and informal. <BR> <I>Ex. Many poems by Robert Frost are written in a conversational style.</I> adv. <B>conversationally.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="conversationalist">
<B>conversationalist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who is fond of or who is good at conversation. </DL>
<B>conversation piece,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>anything that attracts attention and forms a topic of conversation, especially a rare or unusual object. <DD><B> 2. </B>a kind of genre painting representing a group of figures. </DL>
<A NAME="conversationpit">
<B>conversation pit,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a sunken or recessed area in or near a living room for conversing or entertaining. </DL>
<A NAME="conversazione">
<B>conversazione, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ones,</B> (Italian) <B>-oni.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Italian.) a social meeting for conversation on literary, artistic, or scientific topics. <BR> <I>Ex. the conversazione held annually in May by the Royal Society (A. W. Haslett).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="converse">
<B>converse</B> (1), verb, <B>-versed,</B> <B>-versing,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to talk together in an informal way; engage in conversation. (SYN) chat. <DD><B> 2. </B>to hold spiritual communion (with). <BR> <I>Ex. and there converse with nature (James Thomson).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Obsolete.) to consort; keep company (with). <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>conversation; discourse; talk. <BR> <I>Ex. In like manner as he enjoyed the converse of learned men so also did he take pleasure in the study of eminent writers (Atlantic).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>spiritual intercourse; communion. <BR> <I>Ex. Like the ships upon the sea which hold an hour's converse (Alexander Smith).</I> noun <B>converser.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="converse">
<B>converse</B> (2), adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>opposite or contrary in direction or action. <BR> <I>Ex. A converse wind slowed down the airplane.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>reversed in order; turned about. <BR> <I>Ex. The converse order of the alphabet is from "z" to "a."</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a thing, especially a statement, that is turned around, opposite, or contrary to something else. <BR> <I>Ex. "Honest but poor" is the converse of "Poor but honest."</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Logic.) a proposition obtained from another proposition as the result of conversion. </DL>
<A NAME="conversely">
<B>conversely, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> if turned the other way around. <BR> <I>Ex. Six is more than five; conversely, five is less than six.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="conversible">
<B>conversible, </B>adjective. =conversable.</DL>
<A NAME="conversion">
<B>conversion, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act or process of converting; a changing or turning; change. <BR> <I>Ex. Heat causes the conversion of water into steam. Scientists are working on the conversion of salt water into fresh water.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the change from one belief to another or from lack of belief to faith; change from one religion, political party, or other group founded upon belief to another. <BR> <I>Ex. Ordinarily we identify conversion with rapid changes of religious conviction, but the same process may occur in other areas of experience (Ogburn and Nimkoff).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>an exchange for an equivalent. <BR> <I>Ex. the conversion of feet into inches or pounds into dollars.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Law.) <DD><B> a. </B>the act of taking and using unlawfully. <BR> <I>Ex. Taking over, using, or selling another person's property without his permission is conversion.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>a change in the nature of property, such as from real to personal. <BR> <I>Ex. the conversion of land into money by selling it.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>in football or Rugby: <DD><B> a. </B>a kick, pass, or run, to score a point or points after a touchdown. <DD><B> b. </B>one or two extra points scored after a touchdown. <BR> <I>Ex. Cole's conversion made it 9-8 and thus the game was wide open again (Sunday Times).</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Mathematics.) a change of a number or quantity into another denomination; reduction. <DD><B> 7. </B>(Logic.) the transposition of subject and predicate in a proposition. <BR> <I>Ex. The proposition "no good man is unhappy" gives us by conversion "no unhappy man is good."</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>the exchanging of an issue of public securities, bonds, or stocks for another, usually carrying a lower rate of interest. <DD><B> 9. </B>(Psychiatry.) the development of physical symptoms of illness as a relief from a repressed mental conflict, with the symptoms acting as symbols of the mental conflict. </DL>
<A NAME="conversional">
<B>conversional, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with conversion. </DL>
<B>conversion hysteria,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Psychiatry.) hysteria brought on by anxiety or mental conflict, in which repressed wishes or desires are suddenly released by the development of physical symptoms, such as temporary blindness or paralysis, and which produce a characteristic calm and tranquillity. </DL>
<A NAME="conversionsteel">
<B>conversion steel,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> semifinished steel, usually ingots, obtained from one mill and taken to another to be reworked into a desired finish or shape. </DL>
<A NAME="convert">
<B>convert, </B>verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1a. </B>to turn (something) to another purpose; change in form, character, or function; transform. <BR> <I>Ex. The generators at the dam convert water power into electricity. These machines convert cotton into cloth. One last effort converted defeat into victory.</I> (SYN) turn. <DD><B> b. </B>to apply to a use different from that of the original; adapt. <BR> <I>Ex. The large mansion was converted into an apartment house. The owner converted the coal furnace into one using oil.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to cause to change from one belief to another or from lack of belief to faith; change from one religion, political party, or other group founded upon belief to another. <BR> <I>Ex. French and Spanish missionaries converted some American Indians to the Christian religion.</I> (SYN) proselyte, proselytize. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Law.) <DD><B> a. </B>to take and use unlawfully. <BR> <I>Ex. The dishonest treasurer converted the club's money to his own use.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to change (property) from real to personal or personal to real. <DD><B> 4. </B>to turn the other way around; invert; transpose. <DD><B> 5. </B>to exchange for an equivalent. <BR> <I>Ex. He converted his dollars into pounds upon arriving in London.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>to exchange (a bond or other security) for another type of security, such as common stock. <DD><B> 7. </B>(Obsolete.) to change in position or direction. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to be converted; change. <BR> <I>Ex. He converted to his wife's religion when he married her.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(in football or Rugby) to score a conversion. <BR> <I>Ex. He converted after all three touchdowns last Saturday.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a person who has been converted to a new religion, political party, or other group founded upon belief. </DL>
<A NAME="convertaplane">
<B>convertaplane, </B>noun. =convertiplane.</DL>
<A NAME="converter">
<B>converter, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person or thing that converts. <DD><B> 2. </B>a person who makes converts. <DD><B> 3. </B>a person who converts raw textile fabrics into finished products by dyeing or bleaching. <DD><B> 4. </B>a rotating device for changing alternating current into direct current or the reverse. <DD><B> 5. </B>a device in a radio or television receiver for changing from one range of frequency to another. <DD><B> 6. </B>a device which automaticlaly changes one form of computer signal or information into another. <BR> <I>Ex. an analog-to-digital converter.</I> <DD><B> 7. </B><B>=converter reactor.</B> <DD><B> 8. </B><B>=Bessemer converter.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="converterreactor">
<B>converter reactor,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a nuclear reactor which converts nonfissionable material to fissionable material. </DL>
<A NAME="convertibility">
<B>convertibility, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the quality of being convertible. <BR> <I>Ex. Trade was freed, and the pound was brought close to convertibility (Atlantic).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the right or freedom to exchange the currency of one country for that of another. <BR> <I>Ex. Convertibility greatly facilitates international trade and investment (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
