Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To be or give a sign of; indicate: synonym: indicate.
- transitive verb To foretell; portend.
- transitive verb To engage, hire, or order in advance: synonym: book.
- transitive verb To request: bespeak a favor.
- transitive verb Archaic To speak to; address.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To speak for beforehand; engage in advance; make arrangements for: as, to
bespeak a place in a theater. - To stipulate, solicit, or ask for, as a favor: as, to
bespeak a calm hearing. - To forebode; foretell.
- To speak to; address.
- To betoken; show; indicate, as by signs.
- To speak up or out; exclaim; speak.
- noun Among actors in Great Britain, a benefit: so called from the bespeaking of patronage by the actors, or of the play by the patrons. See
benefit , 5.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb obsolete To speak.
- transitive verb To speak or arrange for beforehand; to order or engage against a future time.
- transitive verb To show beforehand; to foretell; to indicate.
- transitive verb To betoken; to show; to indicate by external marks or appearances.
- transitive verb Poetic To speak to; to address.
- noun A bespeaking. Among actors, a benefit (when a particular play is bespoken.)
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To
speak about; tell of;relate ;discuss . - verb transitive To speak for beforehand;
engage in advance; make arrangements for;order orreserve in advance . - verb transitive To
stipulate ,solicit ,ask for , orrequest , as in a favour. - verb transitive, archaic To
forbode ;foretell . - verb transitive, archaic, poetic To speak to;
address . - verb transitive To
betoken ;show ;indicate ;foretell ;suggest . - verb intransitive To
speak up orout ;exclaim ; speak. - noun A
request for a specific performance; abenefit performance, by a patron.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb be a signal for or a symptom of
- verb express the need or desire for; ask for
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The public duties to which he was often called bespeak his ability, and the confidence reposed in him by the leading men of his day.
The Sermons of John Owen 1616-1683 1968
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Ma’aruf was silent92 and did not again bespeak him till he reached the Desert Quarter and casting him down there, went away and left him in that horrible place. —
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Both titles bespeak what our nation claims to stand for in education: a passion for imparting knowledge to all our children, equity for all students 'performance, and dedication and commitment from instructors to the ideals of universal education across the country.
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"bespeak" - "commission to be made," according to my Oxford dictionary-a burger.
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It was Mr. Crummles 'habit to give a benefit performance, commonly called a "bespeak," to any member of his company fortunate enough to have either a birthday or any other anniversary of sufficient importance to challenge attention on the posters, and not long after Nicholas entered the company, this honor fell to the lot of one of the prominent actresses, Miss Snevellicci.
Ten Girls from Dickens Kate Dickinson Sweetser
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And to come to a later instance, the reader may bear in mind that before that ornament of Mr. Crummles's company, Miss Snevellici, took her benefit or "bespeak" at the Portsmouth Theatre, she, in company with Nicholas Nickleby, and, for propriety's sake, the Infant
A Book of the Play Studies and Illustrations of Histrionic Story, Life, and Character Dutton Cook 1856
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"bespeak," that you can select and arrange to your own taste; that it is not "to take or to leave" at your peril and as it offers itself.
Matthew Arnold George Saintsbury 1889
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These tangible things bespeak an underlying reality.
Blind Faith? 2009
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But Alder said the one-day spike in violence does not necessarily bespeak a larger trend.
Three killed in weekend outbreak of violence in Southeast D.C. 2011
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But Alder said the one-day spike in violence does not necessarily bespeak a larger trend.
Three killed in weekend outbreak of violence in Southeast D.C. 2011
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