Dictionary Definition
speak
Verb
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]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- , /spiːk/, /spi:k/
-
- Rhymes: -iːk
Verb
- To communicate
with one's voice, to
say words out loud.
- I was so surprised I couldn't speak.
- You're speaking too fast.
- I was so surprised I couldn't speak.
- To have a conversation.
- It's been ages since we've spoken.
- In the context of "by extension": To communicate or converse by some means other
than orally, such as
writing or facial expressions.
- He spoke of it in his diary
- Speak to me only with your eyes.
- I just spoke with them on IRC.
- Actions speak louder than words.
- Speak to me only with your eyes.
- He spoke of it in his diary
- To deliver a message to a group; to deliver a speech.
- This evening I shall speak on the topic of correct English usage.
- To be able to communicate in a language.
- I was so surprised that I couldn't speak a word.
- He speaks Mandarin fluently.
- I was so surprised that I couldn't speak a word.
Synonyms
Related terms
phrasal verbs idiomsTranslations
- Arabic:
- Armenian: խոսել (khosel)
- Bulgarian: говоря (govorja) (1, 6)
- Catalan: parlar
- Chinese: 说/説 (shuō), 说话/説話 (shuōhuà)
- Czech: mluvit
- Danish: tale (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
- Dutch: spreken
- Esperanto: paroli
- Estonian: rääkima
- Finnish: puhua (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), kertoa (3), pitää puhe (5)
- French: parler
- German: sprechen
- Guaraní: ñe'ẽ
- Hebrew: לדבר (le-dabér)
- Hungarian: beszélni
- Indonesian: berbicara, berpidato
- Interlingua: parlar
- Italian: parlare
- Japanese: 話す, 語る, 言う
- Korean: 말하다 (malhada)
- Latin: dicere
- Nahuatl: tlatoa
- Norwegian: snakke
- Occitan: parlar
- Polish: mówić
- Portuguese: falar
- Romanian: vorbi, discuta
- Romansch: pledar, tschantschar
- Russian: говорить (govorít’)
- Scottish Gaelic: bruidhinn
- Slovak: rozprávať, hovoriť
- Slovene: govoriti (1, 2, 3, 4, 6)
- Spanish: hablar
- Swahili: ongea
- Swedish: tala
- Tagalog: magsalita
- Thai: (pôot)
- Tupinambá: nhe'eng
- Yiddish: רעדן (redn)
- Zulu: ukukhuluma (ugukuluma)
Noun
- language, jargon, or terminology used uniquely in
a particular environment or group.
- Corporate speak; IT speak
Noun
Translations
jargon/terminology
Extensive Definition
Speak can mean:
- Speech communication
- SPEAK (Suicide Prevention Education Awareness for Kids), a Maryland-based organization for suicide prevention
- Speak (artist), the Hungarian rap artist and internet phenomenon famous for his anti-war video
- Speak (album), the debut album by the actress Lindsay Lohan
- Speak (No-Man Album), a compilation album by No-Man
- Speak (song), a song by the band Godsmack
- Speak (Nickel Creek song), a single by progressive bluegrass band Nickel Creek
- Speak
(novel), a novel by Laurie Halse Anderson
- Speak (film), the film based on Anderson's book
- SPEAK network, a Christian student campaigning network
- SPEAK Campaigns, Animal rights campaign in Oxford.
- SPEAK (test), the Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit from the Educational Testing Service
- SPEAK!!!, the 3rd album from The Mad Capsule Markets
- Speak, young adult division of the publishing company The Penguin Group
- Speak (The Tick), the pet of comic superhero The Tick.
- S.P.E.A.K. Project (Safe Practices Elevating Awareness and Knowledge) A coalition of different agencies raising awareness on topics ranging from substance abuse to STD's/HIV
speak in Danish: Speak
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
accost,
acquaint, act for,
address, admonish, advert to, advertise, advertise of,
advise, affect, affirm, allege, allude to, announce, annunciate, apostrophize, appeal to,
apprise, approach, argue, articulate, as it were, ask
for, assert, assever, asseverate, aver, avouch, avow, bandy words, be in
connection, be in contact, beat the drum, beg, bespeak, bespoke, betoken, blurt, blurt out, break silence,
brief, bring word,
buttonhole, call
attention to, call to, cant, chatter, chew the fat, chew the
rag, chin, chosen, colloque, colloquialize, colloquize, come out,
comment, commerce with,
commune with, communicate, communicate
with, confab, confabulate, contend, converse, converse with,
convey, deal with,
declaim, declare, defend, deliver an address,
demand, descant, dilate, dip, dip the ensign, disclose, discourse, discourse with,
discuss, drawl, dress ship, emit a sound,
engaged, enlighten, enunciate, examine, exchange colors,
exclaim, expatiate, express, familiarize, figuratively
speaking, flag, flag down,
flash, gab, gasp, give a signal, give a talk,
give notice, give the facts, give the nod, give voice, give word,
glance, greet, hail, hail and speak, half-mast,
halloo, have, have dealings with, have
intercourse, have truck with, hoist a banner, hold, hold communication, indicate, influence, inform, insist, instruct, interchange, intercommunicate,
interject, invoke, issue a manifesto,
jargon, jargonize, kick, lay down, leave word,
lecture, leer, let drop, let fall, let know,
maintain, make a noise,
make a sign, make a signal, make a sound, make known, make oneself
heard, make reference to, manifesto, mention, mention to, mouth, mumble, murmur, muse, mutter, nod, noise, note, notify, nudge, observe, opine, patter, perorate, platform, plead for, poke, profess, pronounce, protest, put, put it, raise a cry, rebuke, recommend, refer to, reflect, remark, report, represent, reprimand, reprove, request, require, reserved, resound, reveal, salute, say, scold, selected, send word, serve
notice, set aside, set down, shoot the breeze, shout, sign, signal, signalize, signify, so to speak, soapbox, sound, sound an alarm, sound the
trumpet, speak fair, speak for, speak for itself, speak out, speak
to, speak up, speak with, speechify, splutter, spout, stand for, stand on, stand
up for, state, stick up
for, stump, submit, support, symbolize, take a stand, take
aside, take counsel with, take the floor, take the stump, talk, talk about, talk to, talk
together, tell, touch, touch on, touch upon,
traffic with, treat of, unfurl a flag, uphold, use, use language, utter, verbalize, verse, visit with, vocalize, voice, wag the tongue, warn, wave, wave a flag, wave the hand,
whisper, wink