SPEAK


Meaning of SPEAK in English

I. ˈspēk verb

( spoke ˈspōk ; or archaic spake ˈspāk ; or dialect British spak ˈspak ; spo·ken ˈspōkən sometimes -k ə ŋ ; or archaic spoke or dialect British spak ; speaking ; speaks )

Etymology: Middle English speken, from Old English sprecan, specan; akin to Old High German sprehhan to speak, Greek spharageisthai to crackle, Sanskrit sphūrjati it roars, crackles

intransitive verb

1.

a. : to utter words or articulate sounds with the ordinary modulation of the voice : talk

swallowed once or twice before she was able to speak — Mary Austin

does not find it necessary to speak … at the top of his lungs — B.R.Redman

b.

(1) : to give oral expression to thoughts, opinions, or feelings : engage in talk or conversation

not for three years to speak with any men — Alfred Tennyson

why don't you speak for yourself — H.W.Longfellow

(2) : to extend a greeting

are embarrassed … and they often blush when spoken to on the street — Carl Withers

(3) : to be on speaking terms

still are speaking after a quarter century of collaboration — Lewis Nichols

(4) : to give a rebuke or reprimand

promised to speak to the boy about his laziness

c.

(1) : to express one's views before a group : make a talk or address

spoke from one end of the state to the other during the campaign

spoke to the club on gardening

(2) : to address one's remarks — usually used with to

I should like to speak to the nominations — Report: Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey

2.

a. : to give written expression to thoughts, opinions, or feelings : make a written statement

as a writer of great talent he speaks with clarity and eloquence — R.K.Carr

these lines … speak of the saddest thing we know — H.A.Overstreet

b. : to express oneself

science speaks in the conventionalized precision of mathematical language — T.H.Littlefield

— often used in the phrase so to speak

here he was at the enemy's gates, so to speak — C.S.Forester

c. : to serve as spokesman

associations presuming to speak for higher education — J.K.Little

the dominant interests of the electorate for whom they speak — Cabell Phillips

writers … speak for their age — Caroline Gordon

3.

a. : to give expression to thoughts, opinions, or feelings by other than verbal means

eyes that speak too plainly — W.S.Gilbert

she said nothing at all but her strong fingers spoke for her — Louis Bromfield

actions speak louder than words

b. : to communicate by signals : signal

our steamer spoke in a short, sharp blast — William Beebe

c. : to communicate by being interesting or attractive : appeal

great music … is intelligible to children since it speaks directly to the emotions — A.N.Whitehead

nature speaks to us … through our senses — Susanne K. Langer

4.

a. : to make a request : ask

suppose you speak for tea — Jane Austen

b. : to place an order

among the companies which have spoken for these later models — Horace Sutton

5.

a. : to make a characteristic or natural sound or noise

and let the kettle to the trumpet speak — Shakespeare

all at once the thunder spoke — George Meredith

b. : to produce a musical sound readily and clearly

discovered that the saxophone speaks easily — Deems Taylor

c. : to emit a sound on being fired

the big guns that spoke so thunderously that wild night — H.L.Merillat

d. of a hound : to give tongue : bark , bay

6.

a. : to bear witness : testify

if his trial is held in absentia his dossier will speak in his defense — Kay Boyle

how the old tub took those tossing seas … spoke well for her builders — H.A.Chippendale

b. : to give proof or evidence : be indicative or suggestive

his gold … spoke of riches in the land — Julian Dana

schools and museums all speak of the past — D.W.Brogan

c. : to serve as a symbol

the acres of white marble … speak for the purity of justice — John Mason Brown

d. : augur

his thrift and industry speak well for his future

transitive verb

1.

a.

(1) : to utter articulately and with ordinary modulation of the voice : pronounce

once the words were spoken she was sorry — Carson McCullers

speak the speech I pray you … trippingly on the tongue — Shakespeare

(2) : to give a recitation of : declaim

little girls who were going to speak pieces, fluttering about in white dresses — Della Lutes

b. : to make known by speech : express orally : declare

the English clergy spoke their mind very freely on the subject — L.F.Salzman

c.

(1) archaic : to engage in talk or conversation with

speaking him in that … tongue — P.J.Bailey

(2) : address , accost — usually used with fair

a stranger came to the door at eve and … spoke the bridegroom fair — Robert Frost

d. : to make communication with : hail

when you pass other yachts speak them — H.A.Calahan

2.

a. : to make known in writing : state

letting the Bible speak its message to them — J.C.Swaim

in this passage the man himself is speaking … his innermost convictions — H.O.Taylor

b. obsolete : to make reference to : mention

speak me to her in the best language of affection — Robert Loveday

c. : to serve as spokesman for : represent

the municipal council … had ceased to speak the sense of the citizens — T.B.Macaulay

3. : to use or have the ability to use in talk or conversation

has lived there and speaks both Spanish and Portuguese — H.G.Doyle

4.

a. : to make known by other than verbal means : reveal

his eager smile … spoke devotion — Hugh Walpole

what color means, color alone can speak — Louise Nicholl

b. : to give proof or evidence of : indicate , suggest

his various addictions … speak the amateur — F.R.Leavis

c. archaic : to demonstrate clearly or undeniably : proclaim

his whole person … speaks him a man of quality — Richard Steele

d. : to announce by making a characteristic or natural sound

these trumpets speak his presence — Nicholas Rowe

the tower-clock spoke night — Henry Treece

5. : to make a request of : ask

we'd like to speak some friendly wraith to tell us news — Bookman

6. archaic

a. : designate , call

may'st thou live ever spoken our protector — John Fletcher

b. : to give a description of : depict

to speak him true … no keener hunter after glory breathes — Alfred Tennyson

7. : to have the significance of : signify

another long passage that speaks volumes for the formalist viewpoint — Hunter Mead

8. : to bring into a specified state or position by or as if by speech

spoke himself into the common council — New Monthly Magazine

Synonyms:

talk , converse : speak is a general term of wide application. It may on occasion differ from talk in suggesting a weighty formality

speak at a university commencement

speaking as a guest of honor

talk in general may suggest less formality and is likely to implicate auditors or interlocutors

we talk in the bosom of our family in a way different from that in which we discourse on state occasions — J.L.Lowes

converse may imply interchange of opinions and ideas

don't ever remember hearing my parents converse, and they never even chatted. My father would expound on law and ritual, my mother would listen — S.N.Behrman

- to speak of

II. noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle English speke, from speken to speak

chiefly Scotland : speech , talk

III. noun

( -s )

Etymology: by shortening

: speakeasy

there would be token raids now and then but the speak usually opened the next day — C.B.Davis

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.