speak

present singular third person speaks · participle present speaking · past spoke · archaic past spake · colloquial nonstandard participle past spoke · first person past singular spoke · archaic present second person singular speakest · past second person singular spoke · archaic past second person singular spokest · present singular third person speaks · archaic present singular third person speaketh · past singular third person spoke · past plural spoke · past subjunctive spoke · participle present speaking · participle past spoken

1. intransitiveTo communicate with one's voice, to say words out loud.

   You're speaking too fast.

   2 more examples

   And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them.

   1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 203

   I was so surprised I couldn't speak.

2. intransitivereciprocalTo have a conversation.

   It's been ages since we've spoken.

3. broadlyTo communicate or converse by some means other than orally, such as writing or facial expressions.

   He spoke of it in his diary.

   4 more examples

   Speak to me only with your eyes.

   Actions speak louder than words.

   Then said the gods, making the signs of the gods and speaking with Their hands lest the silence of Pegāna should blush; then said the gods to one another, speaking with Their hands: “Let Us make worlds to amuse Ourselves while Māna rests. Let Us make worlds and Life and Death, and colours in the sky; only let Us not break the silence upon Pegāna.”

   1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC, page 4

   The deed will speak the truth In language strict and pure. I stop the lying mouth: Rage warps my clearest cry To witless agony.

   1941, Theodore Roethke, “Open House”, in Open House, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →OCLC; republished in The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, London: Faber and Faber […], 1968, →OCLC, page 3

4. intransitiveTo deliver a message to a group; to deliver a speech.

   This evening I shall speak on the topic of correct English usage.

5. stativetransitiveTo be able to communicate in a language.

   He speaks Mandarin fluently.

   1. broadlystativetransitiveTo be able to communicate in the manner of specialists in a field.

      Even those who did 'speak computer' did so sometimes in a less than fluent way which required a jump to be made from a press-the-right-button stage to having the confidence to experiment.

      1998, Nigel G Fielding, Raymond M Lee, Computer Analysis and Qualitative Research, page 4

6. transitiveTo utter.

   I was so surprised that I couldn't speak a word.

   1 more example

   And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jeremiah 9:5

7. transitiveTo communicate (some fact or feeling); to bespeak, to indicate.

   Their behaviour to each other speaks the most cordial confidence and happiness.

   1785, Frances Burney, Diary and letters of Madame d'Arblay, author of Evelina, Cecilia, &c., link

   1 more example

   There he sat, his very indifference speaking a nature in which there lurked no civilized hypocrisies and bland deceits.

   1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “A Bosom Friend.”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 56

8. humorousinformalsometimestransitiveTo understand (as though it were a language).

   Sorry, I don't speak idiot.

   1 more example

   So you can program in C. But do you speak C++?

9. intransitiveTo produce a sound; to sound.

   Make all our trumpets speak.

   c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene vi], page 150

10. Of a bird, to be able to vocally reproduce words or phrases from a human language.

    Miles tremblingly confessed that it had, but to no purpose; a parrot being able to speak better in three weeks than a brazen head.

    1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 220

11. archaictransitiveTo address; to accost; to speak to.

    [He will] thee in hope; he will speak thee fair.

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ecclesiasticus 13:6

    3 more examples

    Each village senior paused to scan / And speak the lovely caravan.

    1847, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Threnody”, in Poems, Boston, Mass.: James Munroe and Company, →OCLC, page 239

    To oversee all the details yourself in person; to be at once pilot and captain, and owner and underwriter; to buy and sell and keep the accounts; to read every letter received, and write or read every letter sent; to superintend the discharge of imports night and day; to be upon many parts of the coast almost at the same time—often the richest freight will be discharged upon a Jersey shore;—to be your own telegraph, unweariedly sweeping the horizon, speaking all passing vessels bound coastwise; [...]

    1854 August 9, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, “Economy”, in Walden; or, Life in the Woods, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC

    Spoke the ship Union of Newport, without any anchor. The next day ran down to Acra, where the windlass was again capsized and the pawls broken.

    2013, George Francis Dow, Slave Ships and Slaving (quoting an older text)

plural speaks · alternative obsolete speake · alternative obsolete speke

1. uncountableLanguage, jargon, or terminology used uniquely in a particular environment or group.

   corporate speak; IT speak

   2 more examples

   We'll go into more depth with all the specs shortly so anyone less well versed in espresso speak will understand what I'm harping on about, but firstly let's just talk about using the machine.

   2025 May 3, Kev, “Rocket Appartamento TCA Review”, in Coffee Blog

   There's a little corporate speak going on here, don't get me wrong. Assassin's Creed gets described as "more than a game" and "a platform for meaningful exploration and reflection wrapped in the excitement of unforgettable gameplay"—which is executive babble, let's be honest.

   2025 February 28, Harvey Randall, “Ubi Strikes Back”, in PC Gamer (US), number 392, page 9

2. countableSpeech, conversation.
3. abbreviationclippingcountableinformalClipping of speaker point.

   We will deduct speaks for hesitation.

plural speaks · alternative obsolete speake · alternative obsolete speke

1. dateda low class bar, a speakeasy.