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imp. of Speak.

or words; the faculty of expressing thoughts by words or articulate sounds; the power of speaking. There is none comparable to the variety of instructive expressions by speech, wherewith man alone is endowed for the communication of his thoughts. Holder.

Not speaking for a time; dumb; mute; silent. Speechless with wonder, and half dead with fear. Addison. -- Speech"less*ly, adv. -- Speech"less*ness, n.

One who makes speeches; one accustomed to speak in a public assembly.

To speak. [Obs.] Chaucer.

To speak hastily and confusedly; to sputter. [Colloq.] Carleton.

imp. of Speak.

Characterized by a certain manner or style in speaking; -- often in composition; as, a pleasant-spoken man. Methinks you 're better spoken. Shak.

One who speaks for another. He shall be thy spokesman unto the people. Ex. iv. 16.

To spit, or to emit saliva from the mouth in small, scattered portions, as in rapid speaking.

To break silence or secrecy for fear of pain or punishment; to speak; to confess. [Colloq.] If he be obstinate, put a civil question to him upon the rack, and he squeaks, I warrant him. Dryden.

To wound or pain, as if with a pointed weapon. She speaks poniards, and every word stabs. Shak. To stab at, to offer or threaten to stab; to thrust a pointed weapon at.

An elevated platform on which an orator may speak, a play be performed, an exhibition be presented, or the like.

To make involuntary stops in uttering syllables or words; to hesitate or falter in speaking; to speak with stops and diffivulty; to stutter. I would thou couldst stammer, that thou mightest pour this conclead man out of thy mouth, as wine comes out of a narrow-mouthed bottle, either too much at once, or none at all. Sh…

k. -- To stand up. (a) To rise from sitting; to be on the feet. (b) To arise in order to speak or act. "Against whom, when the accusers stood up, they brought none accusation of such things as I supposed." Acts xxv. 18. (c) To rise and stand on end, as the hair. (d) To put one's self in opposition; to contend. "Once w…

A convulsive motion, twitch, or spasm; a spasmodic effort. For she did speak in starts distractedly. Shak. Nature does nothing by starts and leaps, or in a hurry. L'Estrange.

The act of stating, reciting, or presenting, orally or in paper; as, to interrupt a speaker in the statement of his case.

Speaking or sounding very loud; stentorian. [Obs.] Of this stentorophonic horn of Alexander there is a preserved in the Vatican. Derham.

Speaking with directness; plain-spoken. [Colloq. U.S.] Lowell.

Strangely. [Obs.] Most strange, but yet most truly, will I speak. Shak.