verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a speaking engagement (= one in which you give a speech )
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I've been turning down speaking engagements to concentrate on writing my memoirs.
a speaking part (= one in which you have some words to say )
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I had hoped to be given a speaking part.
appear/play/speak at a festival (= perform at a festival )
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Sting is scheduled to appear at a festival in Amsterdam next month.
Broadly speaking
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Broadly speaking , there are four types of champagne.
Comparatively speaking
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Comparatively speaking , this part of the coast is still unspoiled.
figuratively speaking –
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They have a taste – figuratively speaking – for excitement.
manage to smile/speak/laugh etc
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‘Why do you hate me so much?’ he managed to say.
properly speaking British English (= really )
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It isn’t, properly speaking, a real science.
public speaking
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a fear of public speaking
roughly speaking (= used when saying something without giving exact details or information )
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Roughly speaking, I’d say we need about $500.
say/speak a word
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She said the words ‘my husband’ in a firm voice.
say/speak/reply etc coldly
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‘Well, what can I do for you?’ he asked coldly.
speak a language
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Can you speak a foreign language?
speak from experience
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The miners spoke from experience about the dangers of their work.
speak the lingo
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I’d like to go to Greece, but I don’t speak the lingo .
speak the truth
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He always spoke the truth, whether it was popular or not.
speak with an accent
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She spoke with an accent that I couldn’t understand.
speak/talk in whispers
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They spoke in quick, urgent whispers.
talk to/speak to a lawyer (= for advice )
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Have you spoken to a lawyer?
talk/speak (to sb) on the phone
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We talk on the phone every day.
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We spoke earlier on the phone, if you remember.
talk/speak to the press
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He is reluctant to talk to the press.
talk/speak/write etc freely
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In France he could write freely, without fear of arrest.
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We went outside so that we could talk freely without being overheard.
think/speak highly of sb
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I’ve always thought very highly of Michael.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
about
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Black leaders will refrain from hammering at the issue out of an uneasiness at speaking about intergenerational oppression.
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Another early romance, which Kylie has often spoken about , was with the infamous Grant.
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We do not need to speak about who has won and who has lost.
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Yes, this now celebrated affair, which I've not spoken about before, did actually happen.
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I spoke about my frustrations, about not being able to read socialist and feminist books and magazines.
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The lovely place in the mountains that you spoke about ?
again
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After a momentary silence, the President spoke again .
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And just as I turned she spoke again .
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When Rose had lifted the cup and sipped, Miss Poole spoke again ill Swaluli.
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How can we ever speak again ?
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Although he and I have seen each other at public events, we have never to this day spoken again .
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He didn't speak again and shortly afterwards became unconscious.
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Now, Harper Lee speaks again , but again only briefly.
broadly
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To summarize, broadly speaking there are three main categories of such patients. 1.
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Moral freedom is, broadly speaking , the possession of the ability t choose either good or evil.
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They mean, broadly speaking , that the talk is less formal.
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The Far East is broadly speaking a tropical and sub-tropical world.
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Each frame of reference is constructed largely through cultural influences. Broadly speaking there are four possible approaches: Isolation.
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So, any systematic extension of Saussurean concepts may, broadly speaking , be regarded as structuralist.
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The same, broadly speaking , can be done with plants.
directly
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Why do people not just speak directly and say what they mean?
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This smallest of lawyers speaks directly , quickly.
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Later she spoke directly to Rachel.
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Telephone a few days later and ask to speak directly with the director, using the techniques described above.
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Although they never spoke directly of Lachlan, each knew the other's mind; though not as well as she believed.
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Dole spoke directly about his age, saying 73 years of life are not a liability.
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There are a variety of ways of defeating a proposal other than directly speaking against it.
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This is, however, a book that speaks directly to the home cook looking for new challenges and tastes.
generally
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Thus the importance of coinage for our understanding of the past diminishes, generally speaking , the more up to date we come.
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People living in a family need to know, generally speaking , who will do what and when it will happen.
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He spoke generally of the problems of rural areas and less-favoured areas.
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Progress would enhance the wealth of those who, generally speaking , were already rich but not that of the masses.
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If you use straw as bedding for farm animals, generally speaking you improve the welfare of those animals.
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But generally speaking , champions are built from something more.
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But generally speaking , the availability of landfill space is more a matter of politics than geology.
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By Lyle Jackson Quality check for the kitchen GENERALLY speaking , you get what you pay for in a kitchen.
never
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But there are other difficulties on Golding's island which are never spoken of on Ballantyne's like the need for food.
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He never spoke to either of the Harrisons again, nor they to him.
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He was extremely rude to a lot of people, some of whom vowed they would never speak to him again.
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A., all strangers to me, beloved by her but oddly never spoken of.
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Dot wears dotted outfits and never speaks .
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These were words never spoken before by any of the House of Atreus.
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Tom never spoke much to Gary.
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Sometimes he was very temperamental-really fiery then again he would stand at the side of the house for hours and never speak .
out
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The latter speak out on behalf of the poor, women, our fellow creatures and the environment.
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Tom Cruise was first to speak out , his voice appearing over the first scenes of the crash site.
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Reporters and producers have a public duty to speak out if their vision of truth is suppressed by government appointees.
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Management still made the decisions, but it gave employees an opportunity to speak out that they never had before.
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Should I then speak out and invite martyrdom?
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It was against this first flush of a comprehensive modern worldview that the Romantics spoke out .
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Then I think he ought to be in politics, speaking out , or be a teacher or writer.
quietly
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Although normally quietly spoken , he would be most courageous in facing hostility in discussion, even from large groups of people.
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Sadlowski spoke quietly , moderately, as if he was the statesman and not McBride.
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Miklós, in his middle fifties, is a tall, quietly spoken but imposing figure, very self-possessed.
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She was speaking quietly , and there were screams in the background, along with the unmistakable sound of children crying.
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They spoke quietly , deliberated over the menu and drank their wine in sips, like dipping birds.
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Father and Edna spoke quietly about the park, the tourists, and mentioned some veterans' gatherings and the World Series.
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The man spoke quietly to the horse, soothing it.
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Horowitz had spoken quietly , the words spaced out.
softly
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He is shy and softly spoken but supremely confident in his ability.
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Once the driver spoke softly with several others, but we could not make out the words.
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Liu Xiuqin smiled slightly and appeared to be speaking softly to herself.
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Speak softly and carry a big teddy bear.
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Even so, Nicholas spoke softly and Mark had to lean forward to hear.
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When he brought her breakfast, he lingered and spoke softly to her through the bars.
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He speaks softly and very reflectively, with few flights of passion.
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She ate soft food, spoke softly , with a slight huskiness, a sexiness.
strictly
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Work on the floor if necessary. Strictly speaking all fabrics should be cut on the straight grain.
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It is, strictly speaking , conferred by the Constitution.
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They too join in, even though, strictly speaking , they weren't invited.
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In the churchyard tonight well, tomorrow morning strictly speaking .
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The Demoiselles is not, strictly speaking , a Cubist painting.
to
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Some she knew to speak to, others she didn't know at all.
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The girl she spoke to was as nice as pie.
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The policeman he spoke to stood with his hands on his hips, had grey hair showing beneath his peaked cap.
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Casual staff we spoke to said they were aware of the allegations, but considered them unfounded.
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All the cafe owners we spoke to insisted they've never seen cars parked on the carriageway.
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Just speak when spoken to , that's all.
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The girls I spoke to rarely discussed their problems at school with their parents.
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Not one of the many East Berliners I spoke to at several crossing points said they meant to stay in the West.
■ NOUN
accent
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She speaks with a London accent , though her father knows the Royal Family.
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His haughty manner and refined speech had gone, and he spoke with the same accent as the sergeant.
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Margy comes from Newcastle and speaks with a Geordie accent .
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He spoke with an upper-class accent , and Margaret realized his face was vaguely familiar.
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He was wearing a green suit and spoke with a local accent .
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Dialects are spoken with pronounced regional accents .
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The victim was forced to hand over his watch to the youths, who spoke with southern accents .
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She continued: They didn't speak with Oxford accents .
language
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Your body language will speak volumes about your happy state. 4 Inhibition decreases.
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This is a further indication of the influence of bookish language on the spoken style.
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First, they help to unlock the immanent structure of the legal language spoken in a specific arena.
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In this case you may want to analyse the language as well as learn to speak it.
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Soussou, Manika and six other local languages widely spoken .
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I knew he would never take on students in a language he did not speak .
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When I speak , language speaks.
mind
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He spoke his mind and he rarely smiled, and he was getting, at best, a C from me.
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There are more ways of showing disapproval than by speaking your mind .
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What does one say in a culture that hesitates to speak its mind ?
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The company insists Vinik spoke his mind at the time comments were made and he simply changed his opinions.
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They reflect a tough tradition among rural women of shouldering a heavy economic burden and speaking their mind .
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She also intends to speak her mind .
mouth
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He turned back towards me, opened his mouth to speak and was gone.
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It was as if eyes sent messages that the mouth dared not speak lest the words put lives in danger.
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He opens his mouth to speak .
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He opened his mouth to speak , but saw the corpse stretched before him and shut it.
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That was what his eyes asked, while his mouth spoke hollow questions.
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And when she opens her mouth to speak , the words come out in the honeyed tones of the trained singer.
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He opened his mouth to speak but Carrie had turned.
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His cigar was stuck in the corner of his mouth as he spoke .
tongue
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She spoke with her tongue and lips, and not her face.
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They prance about with their eyes closed, speaking in tongues .
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If you spoke in tongues you were baptized by the Spirit, if you did not you were not.
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I could have levitated, spoken in tongues and changed the Perrier into Dom Perignon.
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The first time I ever heard anyone speak in tongues I found it strange, fascinating, and a little frightening.
truth
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She begged, Who are you, sufferer, that speak the truth To one who suffers?
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Sylvie had raved, raved with that undertow of intensity which always made her seem to be speaking the truth .
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Chen knew I spoke the truth .
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I speak the truth , yes?
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It was Arab feminists who insisted on speaking aloud the oldest truths , bringing upon themselves the most ferocious repressions.
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He spoke the truth but not until it had been subjected to the most stringent test - himself!
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Every lawyer who has ever defended a criminal case knows he speaks the truth .
voice
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Dimly she heard Luke's terse voice as he spoke .
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Their voices rang instead of speaking .
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His voice thickened as he spoke , his eyes shone.
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She could hear a lot of noise in the background before a voice spoke .
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A mechanical voice spoke the number back to him and announced that it had been disconnected.
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Her own disembodied voice , speaking .
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The official raised his voice and began to speak even more rapidly, pointing to the girl.
word
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He was glowing like an altar-candle as he spoke , and the words presented themselves like gifts.
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After retrieving the chalice she sat at a table in her living room and began to speak the words .
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There are no spoken words , though.
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Seized for a moment by the power of prophesy, Caledor spoke words that would ring down the ages.
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Other symptoms of dyslexia can include difficulty in writing, calculating or even understanding the spoken word .
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I knew she knew me, though she never spoke word , never, night-long.
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He showed a little smile, as if only the spoken word might perk his interest.
■ VERB
begin
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Fenella began to speak at exactly the same moment that Pumlumon began to intone the Draoicht Suan.
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At first, Jenny could not speak . when she began to speak again, her boisterous laughter was gone.
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He lay down once more upon the bench and, his lungs filled with a crush of flower essence, began to speak .
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He was painfully deliberate as he began to speak .
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The large breathing thing out there began to speak .
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The man began to speak and it was Silver's voice.
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The Prime Minister belched into a lace handkerchief and began speaking over the slow chanting of his name.
hear
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Then, after a pause, I heard him speak again-but he was no longer addressing his words to me.
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Some of those present say they too have heard this story and speak of what they know.
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I was ready for such reactions, because I had heard them whenever I spoke on the topic.
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She had never heard Louise speak in this tone of voice before.
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Here he speaks to others and clearly intends them to hear .
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His brown eyes seemed to be saying things again, things she wanted to hear him speak .
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I went about as if in a trance, speaking to no one, not hearing when anyone spoke to me.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
(there's) many a true word spoken in jest
actions speak louder than words
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As ever, though, actions speak louder than words.
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In any event the user's opinion of a product is reflected in the standard achieved so actions speak louder than words.
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In the kitchen, actions speak louder than words.
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On this playing field, actions speak louder than words.
be spoken for
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But all of the money is spoken for.
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Contest ends when all tickets are spoken for.&.
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Most of your capital is spoken for, and the creditors are closing in.
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Though they were spoken for my benefit, I could not be assumed to share the same norms.
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When the words were spoken for the third time, however, the divorce was irrevocable.
generally speaking
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Generally speaking, older people are less able to speak up for their rights.
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But generally speaking, champions are built from something more.
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But, generally speaking, the economy had by 1937 recovered to the level reached before the Depression started in 1929.
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By s.4 land generally speaking is not property which can be stolen.
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If you use straw as bedding for farm animals, generally speaking you improve the welfare of those animals.
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People living in a family need to know, generally speaking, who will do what and when it will happen.
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Progress would enhance the wealth of those who, generally speaking, were already rich but not that of the masses.
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They are, generally speaking, the most expensive type.
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Well the gay population usually tips much better, generally speaking.
in a manner of speaking
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The illustrations make dinosaurs come alive, in a manner of speaking.
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And he is faithful to her in a manner of speaking.
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For all men are eggs, in a manner of speaking.
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The stolen flowers had been, in a manner of speaking, restored.
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Well, in a manner of speaking.
put a spoke in sb's wheel
relatively speaking
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Relatively speaking, land prices in Ventura are still pretty cheap.
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And if everything is expanding, at the same time, then relatively speaking it must remain the same size.
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Children can handle pressure in areas where they are, relatively speaking, strong.
speak in tongues
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Hearing people in the church speak in tongues fascinated me.
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And, for the first time in eighteen years, she spoke in tongues .
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He seems transformed, as though he is speaking in tongues .
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If you spoke in tongues you were baptized by the Spirit, if you did not you were not.
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Nor did he invent that particularly intense expression of yearning called speaking in tongues .
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Teenage girls returned from that camp with stories of speaking in tongues and exorcising evil spirits.
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The first time I ever heard anyone speak in tongues I found it strange, fascinating, and a little frightening.
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They prance about with their eyes closed, speaking in tongues .
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When he is speaking in tongues , the pattern is always the same.
speak of the devil
speak the Queen's English
speak with authority
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And after 43 years in the industry the managing director of Regional Railways speaks with authority .
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He has spoken with authority on other transport-related Bills.
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He spoke with authority and she trusted him.
speak with forked tongue
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The governor has been known to speak with forked tongue .
speak with one voice
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It became extraordinarily difficult for them to speak with one voice on critical issues.
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Salomon Brothers was speaking with one voice , and it was loud.
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This has already raised fears among foreign governments that the administration is not speaking with one voice on vital international issues.
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Where Clinton speaks with one voice , they speak with several, weakening their philosophical case.
speak/ask/answer etc directly
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Although they never spoke directly of Lachlan, each knew the other's mind; though not as well as she believed.
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Dole spoke directly about his age, saying 73 years of life are not a liability.
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Even when asked directly , as they were by Carol Hong, employees misrepresented the costs, her lawsuit alleges.
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In fact, a Harvard spokesman confirmed her admittance only when asked directly .
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Later she spoke directly to Rachel.
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They seem to speak directly out of the dark into your ears or mine alone.
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This is, however, a book that speaks directly to the home cook looking for new challenges and tastes.
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When asked directly what were their visions of Howdendyke's future, interviewees made fairly consistent replies.
speak/talk out of turn
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I hope I'm not speaking out of turn , but I don't think this is the best way to proceed.
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Also this week: Ben and Mandy talk out of turn while Luke is listening.
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Captain Steve Waugh had sharp words with Buchanan, telling him he had spoken out of turn .
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He enjoys talking out of turn .
speak/think well of sb
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Uncle Brian always thought well of you.
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Ensure they speak well of us rather than denigrate us to their friends.
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If they did this particularly well , analysts were thought well of by their bosses.
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Instead, we were awkward and seething-which didn't encourage scouts, barbers or anyone to speak well of us.
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It was important to him to know this, because he wanted her to think well of him.
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She speaks well of you, and I am uneasy.
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The Newleys' acquaintances spoke well of the dead in order to think ill of the living.
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Why was it so important to her whether I thought well of her or not?
spoken English/language etc
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At 2 years of age, children begin to master spoken language, a system of arbitrary signs.
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For this reason, spoken language interpreters are specifically trained to reject the effects of their utterance of the target language.
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In normal spoken language there are often clear pragmatic constraints on the choice of particular syntactic forms.
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In order of their emergence, they are deferred imitation, symbolic play, drawing, mental imagery, and spoken language.
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Neologisms come and go very quickly in spoken language but tend to be less frequent in writing.
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Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore have found that testosterone aids spatial thinking, but interferes with performance of spoken language.
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The purpose was to show that he too used spoken language and that it and Tarvarian were mutually incomprehensible.
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The same arguments apply to children's spoken language.
strictly speaking
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Strictly speaking, spiders are not insects, although most people think they are.
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However, strictly speaking it is not a number but a physical quantity with units of mol-1.
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It is, strictly speaking, conferred by the Constitution.
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Neither is an inflection of the other, so strictly speaking their differing linguistic origin should dictate separate indices.
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Neither the input nor the output of a Turing machine can, strictly speaking, be an infinite decimal.
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Not strictly speaking, because the wedding was in a register office, and you don't have a best man.
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That, he said, was, strictly speaking, inconceivable.
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This was not strictly speaking true.
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Where there is such an approved standard it is, strictly speaking not mandatory for the manufacturer to comply with it.
talk/speak in riddles
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She is described by the Argive elders as speaking in riddles because they fail to understand her predictions.
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She talked in comparisons, she spoke in riddles .
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She wished people wouldn't talk in riddles .
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When Tweedledum and Tweedledee talk to Alice they are almost talking in riddles .
the facts speak for themselves
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She obviously knows what she's doing - the facts speak for themselves.
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Autoseeker speaks to the thief - the facts speak for themselves.
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Concerning investigation into the conditions endured by animals in laboratories, the facts speak for themselves.
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In such a case the purchaser may plead res ipsa loquitur - the facts speak for themselves.
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Mark answered in the traditional matter-of-fact manner, parading all the relevant factors and letting the facts speak for themselves.
the spoken word
▪
But the power of X-Clan is not the spoken word.
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During secondary education, the use of the spoken word increases.
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Hal could do this when necessary, but most of his communication with his shipmates was by means of the spoken word.
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He showed a little smile, as if only the spoken word might perk his interest.
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Large halls ideal for music can be too reverberant for the spoken word.
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Other symptoms of dyslexia can include difficulty in writing, calculating or even understanding the spoken word.
▪
The most important bias of dictionaries is to the written rather than the spoken word.
think/speak ill of sb
▪
The candidates clearly did not want to speak ill of each other during the campaign.
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But she never speaks ill of anyone.
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He spoke ill of me to his friends.
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I know speaking ill of the dead and all that.
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Surely it is better to speak ill of the dead than of the living.
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The Newleys' acquaintances spoke well of the dead in order to think ill of the living.
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You wish to think all the world respectable, and are hurt if I speak ill of any body.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪
Speaking to Congress, the President appealed for cooperation in dealing with the sagging economy.
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Ambassador Simons has been asked to speak at the dinner.
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At the convention Ford spoke on immigration and social issues.
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Can you speak up? -- I can't hear you.
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Don't interrupt me when I'm speaking.
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Elaine speaks Spanish and Russian.
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He doesn't speak a word of French.
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How old are babies when they learn to speak ?
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I've been invited to speak at the party's annual convention.
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I spoke to a few people at the party who knew him.
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Is there anyone here who can speak Arabic?
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Nadia speaks six languages.
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Sean didn't speak the whole time we were in the car.
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She was too nervous to speak .
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The brothers haven't spoken since the funeral.
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There's a man from the Times on the phone who wants to speak to you.
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Who are they getting to speak at this year's graduation ceremony?
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪
Don said he would be, but to please wait until after the Super Bowl to speak with him.
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I had spoken with other newspaper executives, too, on that day.
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People we spoke to were undecided.
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She mumbled something and Dove asked her to speak up.
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The shamans explain that, at that point, they begin to speak to the dolphins mind to mind.
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When both parties cease to speak you have hit deadlock - wrong!
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Why do people not just speak directly and say what they mean?