1
general::
Phrase(s): exchange no more than some number of words with someone [and] not exchange more than some number of words with someone; hardly exchange more than some number of words with someone; scarcely exchange more than some number of words with someone
to say hardly anything to someone. (Always negative.) • I know Tom was there, but I am sure that I didn’t exchange more than three words with him before he left. • We hardly exchanged more than two words the whole evening. • Sally and Liz didn’t have enough time to exchange more than five words.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs