speak definition | Dictionary.com

speak

[speek]

,verb, spoke or (Archaic

) spake; spo⋅ken or (Archaic

) spoke; speak⋅ing.

Use speak in a Sentence

–verb (used without object)

1.	to utter words or articulate sounds with the ordinary voice; talk: He was too ill to speak.

2.	to communicate vocally; mention: to speak to a person of various matters.

3.	to converse: She spoke with him for an hour.

4.	to deliver an address, discourse, etc.: to speak at a meeting.

5.	to make a statement in written or printed words.

6.	to communicate, signify, or disclose by any means; convey significance.

7.	Phonetics. to produce sounds or audible sequences of individual or concatenated sounds of a language, esp. through phonation, amplification, and resonance, and through any of a variety of articulatory processes.

8.	(of a computer) to express data or other information audibly by means of an audio response unit.

9.	to emit a sound, as a musical instrument; make a noise or report.

10.	Chiefly British. (of dogs) to bark when ordered.

11.	Fox Hunting. (of a hound or pack) to bay on finding a scent.

–verb (used with object)

12.	to utter vocally and articulately: to speak words of praise.

13.	to express or make known with the voice: to speak the truth.

14.	to declare in writing or printing, or by any means of communication.

15.	to make known, indicate, or reveal.

16.	to use, or be able to use, in oral utterance, as a language: to speak French.

17.	(of a computer) to express or make known (data, prompts, etc.) by means of an audio response unit.

18.	Nautical. to communicate with (a passing vessel) at sea, as by voice or signal: We spoke a whaler on the fourth day at sea.

19.	Archaic. to speak to or with.

—Verb phrases

20.

speak for,

a.	to intercede for or recommend; speak in behalf of.

b.	to express or articulate the views of; represent.

c.	to choose or prefer; have reserved for oneself: This item is already spoken for.

21.	speak out, to express one's opinion openly and unreservedly: He was not afraid to speak out when it was something he believed in strongly.

—Idioms

22.	so to speak, to use a manner of speaking; figuratively speaking: We still don't have our heads above water, so to speak.

23.	speak by the book, to say with great authority or precision: I can't speak by the book, but I know this is wrong.

24.	speak well for, to be an indication or reflection of (something commendable); testify admirably to: Her manners speak well for her upbringing.

25.	to speak of, worth mentioning: The country has no mineral resources to speak of.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME speken, OE specan, var. of sprecan; c. G sprechen (OHG sprehhan; cf. var. spehhan)

Related forms:

speak⋅a⋅ble, adjective

speak⋅a⋅ble⋅ness, noun

speak⋅a⋅bly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. Speak, converse, talk mean to make vocal sounds, usually for purposes of communication. To speak often implies conveying information and may apply to anything from an informal remark to a scholarly presentation to a formal address: to speak sharply; to speak before Congress. To converse is to exchange ideas with someone by speaking: to converse with a friend. To talk is a close synonym for to speak but usually refers to less formal situations: to talk about the weather; to talk with a friend. 12. pronounce, articulate. 13. say. 15. disclose.

-speak

a combining form extracted from newspeak, used in the formation of compound words, usually derogatory, that denote the style or vocabulary of a discipline, person, era, etc., as specified by the initial element: adspeak; artspeak; futurespeak.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To speak

speak (spēk)

v. spoke (spōk), spo·ken (spō'kən), speak·ing, speaks

v. intr.

To utter words or articulate sounds with ordinary speech modulation; talk.
1. To convey thoughts, opinions, or emotions orally.
2. To express oneself.
3. To be on speaking terms: They are no longer speaking.
4. To make a statement in writing: The biography speaks of great loneliness.
5. To act as spokesperson: spoke for the entire staff.
6. To convey a message by nonverbal means: Actions speak louder than words.
7. To be expressive: spoke with her eyes.
8. To be appealing: His poetry speaks to one's heart.
9. To produce a characteristic sound: The drums spoke.
10. To give off a sound on firing. Used of guns or cannon.
To deliver an address or lecture: The mayor spoke at the rally.
1. To make a statement in writing: The biography speaks of great loneliness.
2. To act as spokesperson: spoke for the entire staff.
3. To convey a message by nonverbal means: Actions speak louder than words.
4. To be expressive: spoke with her eyes.
5. To be appealing: His poetry speaks to one's heart.
6. To produce a characteristic sound: The drums spoke.
7. To give off a sound on firing. Used of guns or cannon.
1. To convey a message by nonverbal means: Actions speak louder than words.
2. To be expressive: spoke with her eyes.
3. To be appealing: His poetry speaks to one's heart.
4. To produce a characteristic sound: The drums spoke.
5. To give off a sound on firing. Used of guns or cannon.
To make a reservation or request. Often used with for: Is this dance spoken for? I spoke for the last slice of pizza.
1. To produce a characteristic sound: The drums spoke.
2. To give off a sound on firing. Used of guns or cannon.
To make communicative sounds.
To give an indication or a suggestion: His manners spoke of good upbringing.

v. tr.

To articulate in a speaking voice: spoke words of wisdom.
To converse in or be able to converse in (a language): speaks German.
1. To express aloud; tell: speak the truth.
2. To express in writing.
Nautical To hail and communicate with (another vessel) at sea.
To convey by nonverbal means: His eyes spoke volumes.
To speak loud enough to be audible.
To speak without fear or hesitation.

Phrasal Verb(s):
speak outTo talk freely and fearlessly, as about a public issue.
speak up

To speak loud enough to be audible.
To speak without fear or hesitation.

Idiom(s):
so to speakIn a manner of speaking: can't see the forest for the trees, so to speak.

Idiom(s):
speak down toTo speak condescendingly to: She never spoke down to her audience.

Idiom(s):
to speak ofWorthy of mention: There's nothing new to speak of.

[Middle English speken, from Old English sprecan, specan.]
speak'a·ble adj.

Synonyms: These verbs mean to express one's thoughts by uttering words. Speak and talk, often interchangeable, are the most general: He ate without once speaking to his companion. "On an occasion of this kind it becomes more than a moral duty to speak one's mind. It becomes a pleasure" (Oscar Wilde). I want to talk with you about vacation plans. "Let's talk sense to the American people" (Adlai E. Stevenson).
Converse stresses interchange of thoughts and ideas: "With thee conversing I forget all time" (John Milton).
Discourse usually refers to formal, extended speech: "striding through the city, stick in hand, discoursing spontaneously on the writings of Hazlitt" (Manchester Guardian Weekly).

Word History: Because English is a Germanic language, first-year German produces many moments of recognition for English speakers and several puzzles. For example, when we learn the verb sprechen, sprach, gesprochen, "to speak," and the noun Sprache, "speech, language," we wonder whether we lost the r or the Germans put one in. Sounds are more often lost than added in language change, and this is the case here. In Old English the verb was sprecan, the noun sprǣc, both with an r as in German (and in the other Germanic languages). The r-less forms began to appear in the south of England and became common in the 11th century; the forms with r disappeared completely by the middle of the 12th. A similar loss of r after a consonant and before a vowel occurred in the Middle English noun prang and its variant pronge, "severe pain, sharp pain." Pronge survives today as prong (of a pitchfork, for example). The plural of prang appears in a poem composed about 1400 as pangus, "sharp stabs of pain," and survives today as pang, "sharp, stabbing pain."

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Speak

Speak\, v. i. [imp. Spoke(SpakeArchaic); p. p. Spoken(Spoke, Obs. or Colloq.); p. pr. & vb. n. Speaking.] [OE. speken, AS. specan, sprecan; akin to OF.ries. spreka, D. spreken, OS. spreken, G. sprechen, OHG. sprehhan, and perhaps to Skr. sph[=u]rj to crackle, to thunder. Cf. Spark of fire, Speech.]

1. To utter words or articulate sounds, as human beings; to express thoughts by words; as, the organs may be so obstructed that a man may not be able to speak.

Till at the last spake in this manner. --Chaucer.

Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. --1 Sam. iii. 9.

2. To express opinions; to say; to talk; to converse.

That fluid substance in a few minutes begins to set, as the tradesmen speak. --Boyle.

An honest man, is able to speak for himself, when a knave is not. --Shak.

During the century and a half which followed the Conquest, there is, to speak strictly, no English history. --Macaulay.

3. To utter a speech, discourse, or harangue; to adress a public assembly formally.

Many of the nobility made themselves popular by speaking in Parliament against those things which were most grateful to his majesty. --Clarendon.

4. To discourse; to make mention; to tell.

Lycan speaks of a part of C[ae]sar's army that came to him from the Leman Lake. --Addison.

5. To give sound; to sound.

Make all our trumpets speak. --Shak.

6. To convey sentiments, ideas, or intelligence as if by utterance; as, features that speak of self-will.

Thine eye begins to speak. --Shak.

To speak of, to take account of, to make mention of. --Robynson (More's Utopia).

To speak out, to speak loudly and distinctly; also, to speak unreservedly.

To speak well for, to commend; to be favorable to.

To speak with, to converse with. "Would you speak with me?" --Shak.

Syn: To say; tell; talk; converse; discourse; articulate; pronounce; utter.

Speak

Speak\, v. t. 1. To utter with the mouth; to pronounce; to utter articulately, as human beings.

They sat down with him upn ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him. --Job. ii. 13.

2. To utter in a word or words; to say; to tell; to declare orally; as, to speak the truth; to speak sense.

3. To declare; to proclaim; to publish; to make known; to exhibit; to express in any way.

It is my father;s muste To speak your deeds. --Shak.

Speaking a still good morrow with her eyes. --Tennyson.

And for the heaven's wide circuit, let it speak The maker's high magnificence. --Milton.

Report speaks you a bonny monk. --Sir W. Scott.

4. To talk or converse in; to utter or pronounce, as in conversation; as, to speak Latin.

And French she spake full fair and fetisely. --Chaucer.

5. To address; to accost; to speak to.

[He will] thee in hope; he will speak thee fair. --Ecclus. xiii. 6.

each village senior paused to scan And speak the lovely caravan. --Emerson.

To speak a ship (Naut.), to hail and speak to her captain or commander.

Language Translation for : speak

Spanish: hablar,

German: sprechen,

Japanese: しゃべる

More Translations »

speak

O.E. specan, variant of sprecan "to speak" (class V strong verb; past tense spræc, pp. sprecen), from P.Gmc. *sprekanan (cf. O.S. sprecan, O.Fris. spreka, M.Du. spreken, O.H.G. sprehhan, Ger. sprechen "to speak," O.N. spraki "rumor, report"), cognate with L. spargere "to strew" (speech as a "scattering" of words; see sparse). The -r- began to drop out in Late West Saxon and was gone by mid-12c., perhaps from infl. of Dan. spage "crackle," in a slang sense of "speak" (cf. crack in slang senses having to do with speech, e.g. wisecrack, cracker, all it's cracked up to be). Rare variant forms without -r- also are found in M.Du. (speken) and O.H.G. (spehhan). Not the primary word for "to speak" in O.E. ("Beowulf" prefers maþelian, from mæþel "assembly, council," from root of metan "to meet;" cf. Gk. agoreuo "to speak," originally "speak in the assembly," from agora "assembly").

speak

In addition to the idioms beginning with speak, also see actions speak louder than words; in a manner of speaking; nothing to speak of; not to mention (speak of); on speaking terms; so to speak; to speak of.

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