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Speaking   /spˈikɪŋ/   Listen
verb
Speak  v. t.  (past spoke, archaic spake; past part. spoken, obs. or colloq. spoke; pres. part. speaking)  
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."
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." "Speaking a still good morrow with her eyes." "And for the heaven's wide circuit, let it speak The maker's high magnificence." "Report speaks you a bonny monk."
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."
5.
To address; to accost; to speak to. "(He will) thee in hope; he will speak thee fair." "each village senior paused to scan And speak the lovely caravan."
To speak a ship (Naut.), to hail and speak to her captain or commander.



Speak  v. i.  (past spoke, archaic spake; past part. spoken, obs. or colloq. spoke; pres. part. 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." "Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth."
2.
To express opinions; to say; to talk; to converse. "That fluid substance in a few minutes begins to set, as the tradesmen speak." "An honest man, is able to speak for himself, when a knave is not." "During the century and a half which followed the Conquest, there is, to speak strictly, no English history."
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."
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."
5.
To give sound; to sound. "Make all our trumpets speak."
6.
To convey sentiments, ideas, or intelligence as if by utterance; as, features that speak of self-will. "Thine eye begins to speak."
To speak of, to take account of, to make mention of.
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?"
Synonyms: To say; tell; talk; converse; discourse; articulate; pronounce; utter.



noun
Speaking  n.  
1.
The act of uttering words.
2.
Public declamation; oratory.



adjective
Speaking  adj.  
1.
Uttering speech; used for conveying speech; as, man is a speaking animal; a speaking tube.
2.
Seeming to be capable of speech; hence, lifelike; as, a speaking likeness.
A speaking acquaintance, a slight acquaintance with a person, or one which merely permits the exchange of salutations and remarks on indifferent subjects.
Speaking trumpet, an instrument somewhat resembling a trumpet, by which the sound of the human voice may be so intensified as to be conveyed to a great distance.
Speaking tube, a tube for conveying speech, especially from one room to another at a distance.
To be on speaking terms, to be slightly acquainted.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Speaking" Quotes from Famous Books



... leaving were made in one day, save his own mistake of the Hebrew of Exodus xii. 12, as referring to the night of the day on which God spake to Moses, instead of the night of the day of which he was speaking, as the slightest reflection ...
— Fables of Infidelity and Facts of Faith - Being an Examination of the Evidences of Infidelity • Robert Patterson

... of the phenomena of irritative fevers we must refer the reader to the circumstances of irritation explained in Sect. XII. and shall commence this intricate subject by speaking of the quick pulse, and proceed by considering many of the causes, which either separately or in combination most frequently produce the ...
— Zoonomia, Vol. I - Or, the Laws of Organic Life • Erasmus Darwin

... at the next table; and called, in a foreign accent, for two glasses of beer. Then they spoke together, for some little time, about a journey from Saint Malo which they had just made; and Ralph then turned to Colonel Tempe, still speaking French with a strong ...
— The Young Franc Tireurs - And Their Adventures in the Franco-Prussian War • G. A. Henty

... to City Point, he outlined what he expected me to do; saying that I was to cut loose from the Army of the Potomac by passing its left flank to the southward along the line of the Danville railroad, and after crossing the Roanoke River, join General Sherman. While speaking, he handed me a copy of a general letter of instructions that had been drawn up for the army on the 24th. The letter contained these words concerning the ...
— The Memoirs of General Philip H. Sheridan, Vol. II., Part 4 • P. H. Sheridan

... was very quiet and reserved, seldom sharing in the after-cabin amusements, never laughing, and speaking very little; but she and George Talboys had been ...
— Lady Audley's Secret • Mary Elizabeth Braddon


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