Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- Quiet; tame.
- Ready; prompt.
- noun A Scotch form of
spoke . - noun An archaic or poetic preterit of
speak .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- imp. of
speak .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb archaic Simple past of
speak . - adjective obsolete
Quiet ;tame . - adjective obsolete
Ready ;prompt .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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His voice did he keep under/and ne'er a word spake he.
The Nibelungenlied Translated into Rhymed English Verse in the Metre of the Original George Henry Needler 1914
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After the first three minutes he forgot his burden and never a word spake he.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 159, August 11, 1920 Various 1898
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Not a word spake he for a full minute, but he drew his breath hard, flinging out at length a bitter sarcasm on the faithlessness of women, and bidding Raphael trust not too much to their promises, he abruptly left us.
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But presently, when he came back to bed, he lay very still and cold, and when we rose in the morning never a word spake either of us of what had passed that night.
Sir Ludar A Story of the Days of the Great Queen Bess Talbot Baines Reed 1872
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And never a word spake Fafnir, but his eyes waxed red and grim
The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs William Morris 1865
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Then never a word spake Siggeir, save: "Where be Volsung's sons?"
The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs William Morris 1865
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But never a word spake his son, but stood looking straight forward, cold and calm by seeming.
The Roots of the Mountains; Wherein Is Told Somewhat of the Lives of the Men of Burgdale William Morris 1865
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So she rose from under him in silence and answered not his address nor spake a word of reply to him, being dazed for what had befallen her and seeing nothing better than to be silent, for fear of shame; and she bethought herself and said, “If I kill myself it will be useless and if I do him die, his death will profit me naught;” and presently added,
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"When she came in she sat still like ane dazed and spent, and never a word spake she.
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Sling Stranaslang, how Malo-razzias spikes her, coining a speak a spake!
Finnegans Wake 2006
zuccaciyecioglu commented on the word spake
As in "Thus Spake Zarathustra."
September 30, 2008