speak

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To utter words or articulate sounds with ordinary speech modulation; talk.
2. v. To convey thoughts, opinions, or emotions orally.
3. v. To express oneself.
4. v. To be on speaking terms: They are no longer speaking.
5. v. To deliver an address or lecture: The mayor spoke at the rally.
6. v. To make a statement in writing: The biography speaks of great loneliness.
7. v. To act as spokesperson: spoke for the entire staff.
8. v. To convey a message by nonverbal means: Actions speak louder than words.
9. v. To be expressive: spoke with her eyes.
10. v. To be appealing: His poetry speaks to one's heart.
11. v. To make a reservation or request. Often used with for: Is this dance spoken for? I spoke for the last slice of pizza.
12. v. To produce a characteristic sound: The drums spoke.
13. v. To give off a sound on firing. Used of guns or cannon.
14. v. To make communicative sounds.
15. v. To give an indication or a suggestion: His manners spoke of good upbringing.
16. v. To articulate in a speaking voice: spoke words of wisdom.
17. v. To converse in or be able to converse in (a language): speaks German.
18. v. To express aloud; tell: speak the truth.
19. v. To express in writing.
20. v. Nautical To hail and communicate with (another vessel) at sea.
21. v. To convey by nonverbal means: His eyes spoke volumes.
22. speak out To talk freely and fearlessly, as about a public issue.
23. speak up To speak loud enough to be audible.
24. speak up To speak without fear or hesitation.
25. idiom. so to speak In a manner of speaking: can't see the forest for the trees, so to speak.
26. idiom. speak down to To speak condescendingly to: She never spoke down to her audience.
27. idiom. to speak of Worthy of mention: There's nothing new to speak of.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To use articulate utterance in the tones of the speaking-voice, in distinction from those of the singing-voice; exert the faculty of speech in uttering words for the expression of thought.
2. To make an oral address, as before a magistrate, a tribunal, a public assembly, or a company; deliver a speech, discourse, argument, plea, or the like: as, to speak for or against a person or a cause in court or in a legislature.
3. To make oral communication or mention; talk; converse: as, to speak with a stranger; to speak of or about something; they do not speak to each other.
4. To communicate ideas by written or printed words; make mention or tell in recorded speech.
5. To make communication by any intelligible sound, action, or indication; impart ideas or information by any means other than speech or writing; give expression or intimation.
6. Of an organ-pipe, to emit or utter a tone; sound.
7. Nautical, to make a stirring and lapping sound in driving through the water: said of a ship.
8. To bark when ordered: said of dogs.
9. A person with whom one is only sufficiently acquainted to interchange formal salutations or indifferent conversation when meeting casually.
10. To afford an indication of; intimate; denote.
11. To take or make account of; mention as notable or of consequence; deserve mention.
12. To admonish or rebuke.
13. Synonyms Speak, Talk. Speak is more general in meaning than talk. Thus, a man may speak by uttering a single word, whereas to talk is to utter words consecutively; so a man may be able to speak without being able to talk. Speak is also more formal in meaning: as, to speak before an audience; while talk implies a conversational manner of speaking.
14. To utter orally and articulately; express with the voice; enunciate.
15. To declare; utter; make known by speech; tell, announce, or express in uttered words.
16. To use in oral utterance; express one's self in the speech or tongue of: as, a person may read a language which he cannot speak.
17. To accost or address in speech; specifically (nautical), to accost at sea; hail and hold communication with by the voice, as a passing vessel.
18. To say, either in speech or in writing; use as a form of speech.
19. To produce by means or as a result of speech; bring about or into being by utterance; call forth.
20. To mention as; speak of as being; call.
21. To make known as if by speech; give speaking evidence of; indicate; show to be; declare.
22. Synonyms Tell, State, etc. See say.

Wiktionary

1. v. intransitive To communicate with one's voice, to say words out loud.
2. v. intransitive To have a conversation.
3. v. by extension To communicate or converse by some means other than orally, such as writing or facial expressions.
4. v. intransitive To deliver a message to a group; to deliver a speech.
5. v. transitive To be able to communicate in a language.
6. v. transitive To utter.
7. v. transitive To communicate (some fact or feeling); to bespeak, to indicate.
8. v. informal, transitive To understand (as though it were a language).
9. n. language, jargon, or terminology used uniquely in a particular environment or group.
10. n. dated a low class bar, a speakeasy.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To utter words or articulate sounds, as human beings; to express thoughts by words.
2. v. To express opinions; to say; to talk; to converse.
3. v. To utter a speech, discourse, or harangue; to adress a public assembly formally.
4. v. To discourse; to make mention; to tell.
5. v. To give sound; to sound.
6. v. To convey sentiments, ideas, or intelligence as if by utterance.
7. v. To utter with the mouth; to pronounce; to utter articulately, as human beings.
8. v. To utter in a word or words; to say; to tell; to declare orally.
9. v. To declare; to proclaim; to publish; to make known; to exhibit; to express in any way.
10. v. To talk or converse in; to utter or pronounce, as in conversation.
11. v. To address; to accost; to speak to.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. use language
2. v. express in speech
3. v. give a speech to
4. v. make a characteristic or natural sound
5. v. exchange thoughts; talk with