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speak by the book

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speak

  [speek] ,verb, spoke or (Archaic) spake; spo⋅ken or (Archaic) spoke; speak⋅ing.
Use speak by the book 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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

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").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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