-speak - The Dictionary

speak (sp?k)v. spoke (sp?k), spo·ken (sp??k?n), speak·ing, speaks v.intr.1. To produce words by means of sounds; talk: Can the baby speak yet?2. a. To express thoughts or feelings to convey information in speech or writing: He spoke of his desire to travel. In her poem she speaks about loss.b. To convey information or ideas in text: Their book speaks about adopting children.3. a. To engage in conversation: Can we speak for a few minutes about the assignment?b. To be friendly or willing to communicate; be on speaking terms: They are no longer speaking.4. To deliver an address or lecture: The mayor spoke at the rally.5. a. To act as spokesperson: I speak for the entire staff.b. To convey information through another person: The family spoke to the media through their trusted adviser.6. a. To convey a message by nonverbal means: Actions speak louder than words.b. To give an indication or suggestion: His manners spoke of good upbringing.c. To be appealing: His poetry speaks to one’s heart.7. To make a reservation or request. Used with for: Has anyone spoken for the last piece of pizza?8. a. To produce a characteristic sound: The drums spoke.b. To give off a sound on firing. Used of guns or cannon.v.tr.1. To say with the voice; pronounce or utter: She spoke the words with a French accent.2. To converse in or be able to converse in (a language): speaks German.3. To express in words; tell: speak the truth.4. Nautical To hail and communicate with (another vessel) at sea.5. To convey by nonverbal means: His eyes spoke volumes.Phrasal Verbs: speak out To talk freely and fearlessly, as about a public issue. speak up1. To speak loud enough to be audible.2. To speak without fear or hesitation.Idioms: so to speak Used to call attention to a choice of words, and especially to the metaphoric or expressive nature of a word or phrase: can’t see the forest for the trees, so to speak. speak down to To speak condescendingly to: She never spoke down to her audience. spoken for Reserved or requested: Is that seat spoken for? to speak of Worthy of mention: There’s nothing new to speak of.[Middle English speken, from Old English sprecan, specan.]speak?a·ble adj.Synonyms: speak, talk, converse1, discourse These verbs mean to express one’s thoughts by uttering words. Speak and talk, often interchangeable, are the most general: “On an occasion of this kind it becomes more than a moral duty to speak one’s mind. It becomes a pleasure” (Oscar Wilde).”If you want to talk about human experience, then let’s talk about it” (Deborah Eisenberg). Converse stresses interchange of thoughts and ideas: “With thee conversing I forget all time” (John Milton). Discourse usually refers to formal, extended speech: “When there was nothing to say, he discoursed on the nature of silence” (Stacy Schiff).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, “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 and the noun spr?c, 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.”American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.speak (spi?k) vb, speaks, speaking, spoke or spoken1. to make (verbal utterances); utter (words)2. to communicate or express (something) in or as if in words: I speak the truth. 3. (intr) to deliver a speech, discourse, etc4. (Linguistics) (tr) to know how to talk in (a language or dialect): he does not speak German. 5. (intr) to make a characteristic sound: the clock spoke. 6. (Hunting) (intr) (of dogs, esp hounds used in hunting) to give tongue; bark7. (Nautical Terms) (tr) nautical to hail and converse or communicate with (another vessel) at sea8. (Instruments) (intr) (of a musical instrument) to produce a sound9. (foll by: for) to be a representative or advocate (of): he speaks for all the members. 10. on speaking terms on good terms; friendly11. so to speak in a manner of speaking; as it were12. speak one’s mind to express one’s opinions frankly and plainly13. to speak of of a significant or worthwhile nature: we have had no support to speak of. [Old English specan; related to Old High German spehhan, Middle High German spechten to gossip, Middle Dutch speken; see speech] ?speakable adjCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014speak (spik) v. spoke, spo?ken, speak?ing. v.i. 1. to utter words or articulate sounds with the ordinary voice; talk. 2. to communicate vocally; mention. 3. to converse. 4. to deliver an address, discourse, etc. 5. to make a statement in written or printed words. 6. to communicate, signify, or disclose by any means. 7. to emit a sound, as a musical instrument; make a noise or report. v.t. 8. to utter vocally and articulately. 9. to express or make known with the voice. 10. to declare in writing or printing, or by any means of communication. 11. to use, or be able to use, in oral utterance: to speak French. 12. to communicate with (a passing vessel) at sea, as by voice or signal. 13. Archaic. to speak to or with. 14. speak for, to speak in behalf of. 15. speak out, to express one’s opinion openly and unreservedly. 16. speak up, a. to speak loud enough to be heard. b. to speak out. Idioms: 1. so to speak, figuratively speaking: We lost our shirt, so to speak. 2. speak well for, to be an indication or reflection of (something commendable). 3. to speak of, worth mentioning: no debts to speak of. [before 900; Middle English speken, Old English specan, variant of sprecan, c. Old Frisian spreka, Old Saxon sprekan, Old High German sprehhan] speak?a?ble, adj. -speak a combining form extracted from newspeak, used in the formation of compound words that denote the vocabulary of a field, person, era, etc.: adspeak; artspeak; futurespeak. Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.speak – say – tell1. ‘speak’When you speak, you use your voice to produce words. The past tense of speak is spoke. The -ed participle is spoken.Don’t use ‘speak’ to report what someone says. Don’t say, for example, ‘He spoke that the doctor had arrived’. Say ‘He said that the doctor had arrived’.If you mention the person who is being spoken to as well as what was said, use tell.Speak and talk have very similar meanings, but there are some differences in the ways in which they are used.When saying that someone is using his or her voice to produce words, you usually say that they are speaking.However, if two or more people are having a conversation, you usually say that they are talking. You don’t say that they ‘are speaking’.If you have a conversation with someone, you can say that you speak to them or talk to them.You can also say that you speak with someone or talk with someone. This use is particularly common in American English.When you make a telephone call, you ask if you can speak to someone. You don’t ask if you can ‘talk to’ them.If you speak about something, you describe it to a group of people, for example in a lecture.In conversation, you can refer to the thing someone is discussing as the thing they are talking about.You can refer in a general way to what someone is saying as what they are talking about.If two or more people are discussing something, you say they are talking about it. Don’t say they ‘are speaking about’ it.You say that someone speaks or can speak a language.You don’t say that someone ‘talks’ a language.Be Careful!Don’t use ‘in’ when you are talking about someone’s ability to speak a language, and don’t use a progressive form. Don’t say, for example, ‘She speaks in Dutch’ or ‘She is speaking Dutch’ to mean that she is able to speak Dutch.Be Careful!If you hear some people talking, you can say ‘Those people are speaking in Dutch’ or ‘Those people are talking in Dutch’.