speak /ˈspik/
(vi.)說,說話,演說,發言,表明(vt.)說,講,說出
Speak v. i. [imp. Spoke (Spake Archaic); p. p. Spoken (Spoke, Obs. or Colloq.); p. pr. & vb. n. Speaking.]
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 Caesar'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 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.
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speak
v 1: express in speech; "She talks a lot of nonsense"; "This
depressed patient does not verbalize" [syn: talk, utter,
mouth, verbalize, verbalise]
2: exchange thoughts; talk with; "We often talk business";
"Actions talk louder than words" [syn: talk]
3: use language; "the baby talks already"; "the prisoner won't
speak"; "they speak a strange dialect" [syn: talk]
4: give a speech to; "The chairman addressed the board of
trustees" [syn: address]
5: make a characteristic or natural sound; "The drums spoke"
[also: spoken, spoke]