speak*/*/*/

[spiːk]

(past tense spoke [spəʊk] ; past participle spoken [ˈspəʊkən] ) verb

1) to talk to someone about something

We spoke yesterday.[/ex]

I phoned your office and spoke to your assistant.[/ex]

Let me speak with Jennifer and see what she thinks.[/ex]

He spoke movingly about his son's struggle with cancer.[/ex]

People spoke of their fear as the flood waters rose.[/ex]

I know I speak for all of us when I say how sorry I am.[/ex]

See:

say,

talk

2) [I] to use your voice to talk

There was a long pause before she spoke again.[/ex]

He spoke so softly it was difficult to hear what he said.[/ex]

3) [T] to be able to talk in a particular language

Do you speak Chinese?[/ex]

He speaks three languages.[/ex]

4) [I] to give a formal speech

The local MP will be speaking at our graduation ceremony.[/ex]

Petersen spoke to an audience of 2, 000.[/ex]

•

broadly/generally speaking — used for showing that what you are saying is usually true, but not in every instance[/ex]

no...to speak of; nothing to speak of — used for saying that something is very small or unimportant[/ex]

[i]She has no money to speak of.[/ex]

so to speak — spoken used for showing that you have expressed something in an unusual way[/ex]

speak for itself — to be so clear or obvious that no argument is necessary[/ex]

His success as a lawyer speaks for itself.[/ex]

speaking of — spoken used for introducing something new that is related to a subject that someone has just mentioned[/ex]

Speaking of money, have we paid our credit card bills yet?[/ex]

- speak out

- speak up

Word family: speak Words in the same family as speak ● speaker n ● spoken adj ● unspoken adj ● outspoken adj ● speech n ● speechless adj ● unspeakable adj ● unspeakably adv