speak
speak (spēk) verb
spoke (spōk), spoken (spōʹkən), speaking, speaks
verb, intransitive
1. To utter words or articulate sounds with ordinary speech modulation; talk.
2. a. To convey thoughts, opinions, or emotions orally. b. To express oneself. c. To be on speaking terms: They are no longer speaking.
3. To deliver an address or a lecture: The president of NOW was to speak at the rally.
4. a. To make a statement in writing: The biography speaks of great loneliness. b. To act as spokesperson: spoke for the entire staff.
5. a. To convey a message by nonverbal means: Actions speak louder than words. b. To be expressive: spoke with her eyes. c. To be appealing: His poetry speaks to one's heart.
6. To make a reservation or request. Often used with for: Is this dance spoken for? I spoke for the last slice of pizza.
7. a. To produce a characteristic sound: The drums spoke. b. To give off a sound on firing. Used of guns or cannon.
8. To make communicative sounds.
9. To give an indication or a suggestion: His manners spoke of good upbringing.
verb, transitive
1. To articulate in a speaking voice: spoke words of wisdom.
2. To converse in or be able to converse in (a language): speaks German.
3. a. To express aloud; tell: speak the truth. b. To express in writing.
4. Nautical. To hail and communicate with (another vessel) at sea.
5. To convey by nonverbal means: His eyes spoke volumes.
phrasal verb.
speak out
To talk freely and fearlessly, as about a public issue. speak up
1. To speak loud enough to be audible.
2. To speak without fear or hesitation.
idiom.
so to speak
In a manner of speaking: 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.
to speak of
Worthy of mention: There's nothing new to speak of.
[Middle English speken, from Old English sprecan, specan.]
speakʹable adjective
Synonyms: speak, talk, converse, discourse. These verbs mean to express one's thoughts by uttering words. Speak and talk, often interchangeable, are the most general: He ate his meal without once speaking to his dinner companion. "Why don't you speak for yourself, John?" (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow). "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. "We must know . . . what we are talking about" (Henry James). "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).