speak

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also speak for

verb

1. To engage in spoken exchange: chat, confabulate, converse¹, discourse, talk. Informal confab, visit. See words.
2. To direct speech to: address, talk. See words.
3. To express oneself in speech: talk, verbalize, vocalize. Idioms: open one'smouthlips, putinintowords, wag one's tongue. See words.
4. To talk to an audience formally: address, lecture, prelect. Archaic bespeak. See words.

phrasal verb - speak for

To serve as an official delegate of: represent, stand for. See substitute.

Idioms beginning with speak:
speak out of turn
speak of the devil
speak out
speak one's piece
speak the same language
speak too soon

See also actions speak louder than words; in a manner of speaking; nothing to speak of; not to mention (speak of); on speaking terms; so to speak; to speak of.

v

Definition: talk
Antonyms: be quiet, listen

v. past spoke ; past part. spoken archaic hail and hold communication with (a ship) at sea.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

IN BRIEF: To use words, to talk.

It takes two to speak the truth - one to speak and the other to hear. — Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), American philosopher and naturalist.

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noun
noun, US

= speakeasy noun. (1930 —) .
E. O'neill There'll be a speak open, and some drunk laughing (1952).

Previous:	spazz, spaz, spastic
Next:	speakeasy, speako, spear

For a list of words related to speak, see:

• Modes and Manners of Expression - speak: utter words to express something; make a public speech; converse politely; use one particular language to communicate

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See words rhyming with "speak."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Speak.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
v. intr. - tale, lyde
v. tr. - sige, vise, røbe, forkynde, vidne om

idioms:

• actions speak louder than words    handling tæller mere end ord
• be spoken for    være optaget
• so to speak    så at sige
• speak for    være talsmand for, tale for
• speak for oneself    tale på egne vegne
• Speak for yourself    tal for dig selv
• speak highly of    tale rosende om
• speak ill of    tale nedsættende om, bagtale
• speak of    tale om
• speak of the devil    når man taler om solen
• speak out    tale højt, tale rent ud af posen
• speak out of turn    tale før det er ens tur
• speak up    tale frit ud, sige sin mening, spytte ud
• speak volumes    tale stærkt for, sige mere end mange ord
• speak well of    tale godt om
• speaks for itself    siger sig selv
• to speak of    værd at tale om
• well spoken    godt sagt

Nederlands (Dutch)
spreken, praten, zich uiten, een speech houden, praat, jargon

Français (French)
v. intr. - parler, parler (de qn), parler (en tant que), parler (de, à), prendre la parole, témoigner de, (fig) produire un son (un instrument de musique)
v. tr. - parler, dire, prononcer

idioms:

• actions speak louder than words    les actes pèsent plus que les mots
• be spoken for    être réservé ou retenu, ne pas être libre (qn)
• not to speak of    sans oublier
• so to speak    pour ainsi dire
• speak for    représenter, parler au nom de
• speak for itself    parle de lui-même
• speak for oneself    s'exprimer
• Speak for yourself    parle pour toi (excl)
• speak highly of    dire beaucoup de bien de
• speak ill of    dire du mal de
• speak of    (rien) de spécial, pour ainsi dire
• speak of the devil    quand on parle du loup
• speak out    se prononcer (contre, en faveur), s'exprimer
• speak out of turn    commettre une indiscrétion
• speak up    parler plus fort, intervenir
• speak up for    intervenir ou parler en faveur de qn/qch
• speak volumes    en dire long sur
• speak well of    dire beaucoup de bien de
• to speak of    parler de
• well spoken    bien considéré

Deutsch (German)
v. - sprechen, sagen

idioms:

• actions speak louder than words    Taten sprechen lauter als Wörter
• be spoken for    schon vergeben sein
• not to speak of    ganz zu schweigen von
• so to speak    sozusagen, so zu sagen
• speak for    sprechen für
• speak for itself    für sich selbst sprechen
• speak for oneself    für sich selbst sprechen
• Speak for yourself    das ist nur deine Meinung
• speak highly of    sich lobend über jmdn. äußern
• speak ill of    schlecht über jmdn. sprechen
• speak of    sprechen von
• speak of the devil    wenn man vom Teufel spricht
• speak out    seine Meinung sagen
• speak out of turn    eine unpassende Bemerkung machen
• speak up    lauter sprechen
• speak up for    sich für etw. [laut] aussprechen
• speak volumes    Bände sprechen
• speak well of    sich lobend über jmdn. äußern
• to speak of    nennenswert
• well spoken    sprachlich gewandt, mit angenehmer Sprachweise

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - μιλώ, λαλώ, αγορεύω, αναφέρω, εκφράζω με λόγο, συζητώ

idioms:

• actions speak louder than words    οι πράξεις μετράνε
• be spoken for    είμαι καπαρωμένος, είμαι λογοδοσμένος
• so to speak    ούτως ειπείν, κατά κάποιο τρόπο
• speak for    μιλώ υπέρ ή για λογαριασμό τού, υπεραμύνομαι
• speak for oneself    εκφράζω προσωπικές απόψεις, είμαι αυταπόδεικτος, ομιλώ αφ' εαυτού, μιλώ για (την) πάρτη μου
• Speak for yourself    Μίλα για πάρτη σου
• speak highly of    λέω καλά λόγια για
• speak ill of    κακολογώ
• speak of    μιλώ για
• speak of the devil    κατά φωνή (κι ο γάιδαρος)!
• speak out    βγάζω φωνή, μιλώ άφοβα, διακηρύσσω, διατρανώνω, μιλώ δυνατά
• speak out of turn    πετάγομαι, μιλώ εκτός σειράς
• speak up    μιλώ δυνατά ή δυνατότερα
• speak volumes    λέω πολλά, δίνω πλήρη εικόνα
• speak well of    λέω καλά λόγια για
• speaks for itself    είναι αυταπόδεικτο, ομιλεί αφ' εαυτού
• to speak of    άξιον λόγου
• well spoken    ευπροσήγορος

Italiano (Italian)
esprimersi, parlare, esprimere, dire, affermare, fare un discorso

idioms:

• "Speak for yourself"    "parla per te"
• actions speak louder than words    i fatti contano più delle parole
• be spoken for    essere riservato
• not to speak of    per non parlare di
• so to speak    per così dire
• speak for    parlare per
• speak for oneself    opinione personale
• speak ill of    sparlare di
• speak of    parlare di
• speak out    dichiararsi, esprimere la propria opinione
• speak up    pronunziarsi, alzare il volume della voce
• speak well/highly of    elogiare
• speaks for itself    parla da solo
• to speak of    importante

Português (Portuguese)
v. - falar, comunicar, expressar

idioms:

• "Speak for yourself"    fala por ti
• actions speak louder than words    os atos valem mais do que as palavras
• be spoken for    comprometida (f)
• so to speak    por assim dizer
• speak for    defender alguém ou alguma coisa
• speak for oneself    defender-se
• speak ill of    fofocar
• speak of    falar de
• speak out    falar alto, claramente
• speak out of turn    cometer uma indiscrição, demonstrar pouco tato
• speak up    falar alto, claramente
• speak well/highly of    recomendar
• speaks for itself    ser evidente, ser claro, específico
• to speak of    falar de
• well spoken    bom orador, apresentável

Русский (Russian)
говорить, изъясняться, разговаривать, произносить, высказываться, делать заявление, отзываться, свидетельствовать, воздействовать, намекать, заказывать

idioms:

• "Speak for yourself"    "Не говори за других"
• actions speak louder than words    дела убедительнее слов
• be spoken for    быть заказанным (о товаре)
• so to speak    так сказать
• speak for    говорить за (кого-л.), представлять (кого-л.), высказаться в защиту (кого-л.)
• speak for oneself    говорить за себя
• speak ill of    отзываться дурно о ком-л.
• speak of    упоминать
• speak out    высказываться, выступать
• speak out of turn    сказать некстати
• speak up    поднять голос (в защиту), возражать
• speak well/highly of    хорошо отзываться о ком-л.
• speaks for itself    говорит само за себя
• to speak of    не стоит упоминания, пустяк, ничего стоящего
• well spoken    владеющий литературной речью, учтивый, сказанный кстати

Español (Spanish)
v. intr. - hablar, sonar, llamar, hacer señales
v. tr. - hablar, decir, expresar, pronunciar, pronunciar un discurso, llamar, proferir, declarar, proclamar, alabar, celebrar, dirigirse (a uno)

idioms:

• actions speak louder than words    los hechos hablan más que las palabras
• be spoken for    ser reclamado por, ser requerido por
• not to speak of    ni hablar de
• so to speak    como quien dice, por así decirlo
• speak for    hablar en nombre de, hablar en favor de, recomendar, comprometer
• speak for itself    no se necesitan explicaciones, es evidente, habla por sí solo
• speak for oneself    hablar en nombre propio
• Speak for yourself    habla por ti mismo!, ¡eso lo dirás tú!
• speak highly of    hablar bien de
• speak ill of    hablar mal de
• speak of    hablar de, revelar
• speak of the devil    hablando del rey de Roma y el diablo se asoma
• speak out    hablar claro, hablar más fuerte
• speak out of turn    hablar cuando no le toca, fuera de lugar
• speak up    pronunciarse, manifestarse, hablar en voz alta, hablar claro, interponer
• speak up for    hablar en defensa de
• speak volumes    indicar claramente
• speak well of    hablar bien de
• to speak of    hablar de, revelar
• well spoken    bienhablado, cortés, acertado

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - tala, säga, ljuda, skälla, uttrycka, ropa an

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
说话, 讲话, 发表演说, 陈述意见, 谈话, 谈论, 发出信号, 说, 陈述, 表达, 说出, 显示

idioms:

• actions speak louder than words    事实胜于雄辩
• be spoken for    已有主的, 已被人预订的
• so to speak    可以说, 所谓
• speak for    为...辩护, 发言支持, 代表...讲话, 证明, 表明
• speak for oneself    为自己辩护
• Speak for yourself    为自己辩护, 发表个人意见
• speak highly of    赞扬
• speak ill of    说坏话
• speak of    谈到, 论及
• speak of the devil    说曹操曹操就到
• speak out    大胆地说, 大声地说
• speak out of turn    说话冒失
• speak up    大声地说
• speak volumes    很有意义
• speak well of    称赞..., 说...的好话
• speaks for itself    无需进一步说明
• to speak of    更不用说
• well spoken    说话得体的, 说话流畅的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. intr. - 說話, 講話, 發表演說, 陳述意見, 談話, 談論, 發出信號
v. tr. - 說, 陳述, 表達, 說出, 顯示

idioms:

• actions speak louder than words    事實勝於雄辯
• be spoken for    已有主的, 已被人預訂的
• so to speak    可以說, 所謂
• speak for    為...辯護, 發言支持, 代表...講話, 證明, 表明
• speak for oneself    為自己辯護
• Speak for yourself    為自己辯護, 發表個人意見
• speak highly of    讚揚
• speak ill of    說壞話
• speak of    談到, 論及
• speak of the devil    說曹操曹操就到
• speak out    大膽地說, 大聲地說
• speak out of turn    說話冒失
• speak up    大聲地說
• speak volumes    很有意義
• speak well of    稱讚..., 說...的好話
• speaks for itself    無需進一步說明
• to speak of    更不用說
• well spoken    說話得體的, 說話流暢的

한국어 (Korean)
v. intr. - 이야기하다, 강연을 하다, 전달하다
v. tr. - 말하다, 언어 사용 능력이 있다, 증명하다

idioms:

• be spoken for    이미 소유된, 이미 제기된, 이미 미래를 약속한 사람이 있는
• speak for    ~을 대변하다, ~을 주문하다, ~을 증명하다
• speak of    ~에 관하여 말하다, ~을 초들어 말하다, ~이라는 말을 쓰다
• speak out    큰 소리로 이야기를 하다, 거리낌 없이 이야기 하다
• speak up    큰 소리로 이야기를 하다, 거리낌 없이 이야기 하다
• to speak of    언급할 만한, 주목할 만한
• well spoken    말이 세련된, 호평의, 표준어를 쓰는

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 話す, 言う, 話をする, 談話する, 示す, 演説をする, 鳴る, ほえる

idioms:

• actions speak louder than words    行為は言葉よりも雄弁
• be spoken for    予約する
• so to speak    いわば
• speak for    弁護する, 代弁する, 要求する, 示す
• speak for oneself    自己弁護をする, 自分の立場を述べる, 明らかである
• Speak for yourself    こちらの考えは別だ
• speak ill of    悪く言う
• speak of    …のことを言う, 示す, 表現する
• speak out    自由に言う, 遠慮なく話す, 大声で話す
• speak out of turn    順不同で話す
• speak the same language    同じ考え方をする
• speak under one's breath    小声で話す
• speak up    思い切って言う
• speak volumes    多くのことを語る, 明白な証明となる
• speak well/highly of    ほめる
• to speak of    言及に値するほどの

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يتكلم, يخطب, يصرح, يقول‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. intr. - ‮הוציא קול, השמיע צליל, נגע לליבו, קיים קשר עם (ספינה)‬
v. tr. - ‮דיבר, אמר, הביע, ביטא, נאם‬

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