They sat down with him upn ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him.
Job. ii. 13.
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.
Shak.
Speaking a still good morrow with her eyes.
Tennyson.
And for the heaven's wide circuit, let it speak The maker's high magnificence.
Milton.
Report speaks you a bonny monk.
Sir W. Scott.
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.
Chaucer.
5. To address; to accost; to speak to.
Ecclus. xiii. 6.
each village senior paused to scan And speak the lovely caravan.
Emerson.
To speak a ship (Naut.), to hail and speak to her captain or commander.
Speak"a*ble (?), a. 1. Capable of being spoken; fit to be spoken. Ascham.
2. Able to speak. Milton.
Speak"er (?), n. 1. One who speaks. Specifically: (a) One who utters or pronounces a discourse; usually, one who utters a speech in public; as, the man is a good speaker, or a bad speaker. (b) One who is the mouthpiece of others; especially, one who presides over, or speaks for, a delibrative assembly, preserving order and regulating the debates; as, the Speaker of the House of Commons, originally, the mouthpiece of the House to address the king; the Speaker of a House of Representatives.
2. A book of selections for declamation. [U. S.]
Speak"er*ship, n. The office of speaker; as, the speakership of the House of Representatives.
Speak"ing, a. 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.
The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary: Section S · The Wunder Library — complete classics, free to read, with narration.