Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - speak

(speaks, speaking, spoke, spoken) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. When you speak, you use your voice in order to say something. He tried to speak, but for once, his voice had left him... I rang the hotel and spoke to Louie... She says she must speak with you at once... She cried when she spoke of Oliver. ...as I spoke these idiotic words. VERB: V, V to/with n, V to/with n, V of/about n, V n • spoken ...a marked decline in the standards of written and spoken English in Britain. ADJ: ADJ n 2. When someone speaks to a group of people, they make a speech. When speaking to the seminar Mr Franklin spoke of his experience, gained on a recent visit to Trinidad... He’s determined to speak at the Democratic Convention... The President spoke of the need for territorial compromise. VERB: V to n, V, V of n 3. If you speak for a group of people, you make their views and demands known, or represent them. He said it was the job of the Church to speak for the underprivileged... I speak for all 7,000 members of our organization... VERB: V for n, V for n 4. If you speak a foreign language, you know the language and are able to have a conversation in it. He doesn’t speak English... VERB: V n 5. People sometimes mention something that has been written by saying what the author speaks of. Throughout the book Liu speaks of the abuse of Party power... St Paul speaks of the body as the ‘temple of the Holy Spirit’. VERB: V of n, V of n as n 6. If two people are not speaking, they no longer talk to each other because they have quarrelled. He is not speaking to his mother because of her friendship with his ex-wife... The co-stars are still not speaking. V-RECIP: with neg, V to n, pl-n V 7. If you say that something speaks for itself, you mean that its meaning or quality is so obvious that it does not need explaining or pointing out. ...the figures speak for themselves–low order books, bleak prospects at home and a worsening outlook for exports... VERB: no cont, V for pron-refl 8. see also speaking 9. If you say ‘Speak for yourself’ when someone has said something, you mean that what they have said is only their opinion or applies only to them. (INFORMAL) ‘We’re not blaming you,’ Kate said. ‘Speak for yourself,’ Boris muttered. CONVENTION 10. If a person or thing is spoken for or has been spoken for, someone has claimed them or asked for them, so no-one else can have them. She’d probably drop some comment about her ‘fiance’ into the conversation so that he’d think she was already spoken for... PHRASE: V inflects 11. Nothing to speak of means ‘hardly anything’ or ‘only unimportant things’. They have no weaponry to speak of... ‘Any fresh developments?’—‘Nothing to speak of.’ PHRASE: n PHR, with brd-neg 12. If you speak well of someone or speak highly of someone, you say good things about them. If you speak ill of someone, you criticize them. Both spoke highly of the Russian president... It seemed she found it difficult to speak ill of anyone. PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n 13. You use so to speak to draw attention to the fact that you are describing or referring to something in a way that may be amusing or unusual rather than completely accurate. I ought not to tell you but I will, since you’re in the family, so to speak... PHRASE: PHR with cl 14. If you are on speaking terms with someone, you are quite friendly with them and often talk to them. For a long time her mother and her grandmother had hardly been on speaking terms. PHRASE: usu v-link PHR, oft PHR with n 15. to speak your mind: see mind to speak volumes: see volume