speak in terms

verb

To speak plainly.

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Meanings

verbspeak in terms (third-person singular simple present speaks in terms, present participle speaking in terms, simple past spoke in terms, past participle spoken in terms)

present singular third person speaks in terms · participle present speaking in terms · past spoke in terms · participle past spoken in terms

  1. archaicTo speak plainly.

    […] while Mr. Elliot and Lord Milton and Mr. Ward, three of your party, stood foremost in the ranks to oppose the motion, and to speak in terms the most contumelious of the claims of the reformers […]

    1812, William Cobbett, Cobbett's Political Register, volume 21, page 773
Cite this entry
APA

speak in terms. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/speak%20in%20terms

MLA

“speak in terms.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/speak%20in%20terms. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “speak in terms,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/speak%20in%20terms.

Source: speak in terms on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.