(~s, ~ing, spoke, spoken)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
When you ~, you use your voice in order to say something.
He tried to ~, but for once, his voice had left him...
I rang the hotel and spoke to Louie...
She says she must ~ with you at once...
She cried when she spoke of Oliver.
...as I spoke these idiotic words.
VERB: V, V to/with n, V to/with n, V of/about n, V n
spoken
...a marked decline in the standards of written and spoken English in Britain.
ADJ: ADJ n
2.
When someone ~s to a group of people, they make a speech.
When ~ing to the seminar Mr Franklin spoke of his experience, gained on a recent visit to Trinidad...
He’s determined to ~ at the Democratic Convention...
The President spoke of the need for territorial compromise.
VERB: V to n, V, V of n
3.
If you ~ for a group of people, you make their views and demands known, or represent them.
He said it was the job of the Church to ~ for the underprivileged...
I ~ for all 7,000 members of our organization...
VERB: V for n, V for n
4.
If you ~ a foreign language, you know the language and are able to have a conversation in it.
He doesn’t ~ English...
VERB: V n
5.
People sometimes mention something that has been written by saying what the author ~s of.
Throughout the book Liu ~s of the abuse of Party power...
St Paul ~s of the body as the ‘temple of the Holy Spirit’.
VERB: V of n, V of n as n
6.
If two people are not ~ing, they no longer talk to each other because they have quarrelled.
He is not ~ing to his mother because of her friendship with his ex-wife...
The co-stars are still not ~ing.
V-RECIP: with neg, V to n, pl-n V
7.
If you say that something ~s for itself, you mean that its meaning or quality is so obvious that it does not need explaining or pointing out.
...the figures ~ for themselves–low order books, bleak prospects at home and a worsening outlook for exports...
VERB: no cont, V for pron-refl
8.
see also ~ing
9.
If you say ‘Speak for yourself’ when someone has said something, you mean that what they have said is only their opinion or applies only to them. (INFORMAL)
‘We’re not blaming you,’ Kate said. ‘Speak for yourself,’ Boris muttered.
CONVENTION
10.
If a person or thing is spoken for or has been spoken for, someone has claimed them or asked for them, so no-one else can have them.
She’d probably drop some comment about her ‘fiance’ into the conversation so that he’d think she was already spoken for...
PHRASE: V inflects
11.
Nothing to ~ of means ‘hardly anything’ or ‘only unimportant things’.
They have no weaponry to ~ of...
‘Any fresh developments?’—‘Nothing to ~ of.’
PHRASE: n PHR, with brd-neg
12.
If you ~ well of someone or ~ highly of someone, you say good things about them. If you ~ ill of someone, you criticize them.
Both spoke highly of the Russian president...
It seemed she found it difficult to ~ ill of anyone.
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n
13.
You use so to ~ to draw attention to the fact that you are describing or referring to something in a way that may be amusing or unusual rather than completely accurate.
I ought not to tell you but I will, since you’re in the family, so to ~...
PHRASE: PHR with cl
14.
If you are on ~ing terms with someone, you are quite friendly with them and often talk to them.
For a long time her mother and her grandmother had hardly been on ~ing terms.
PHRASE: usu v-link PHR, oft PHR with n
15.
to ~ your mind: see mind
to ~ volumes: see volume