speak

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

v. talk, converse; lecture, discourse, orate; say, utter, pronounce; express, communicate. See speech.

II

(Roget's IV) v.

1. [To utter]

Syn. vocalize, pronounce, express; see utter .

2. [To communicate]

Syn. talk, converse, discourse, articulate, chat; see also talk 1 .

3. [To deliver a speech]

Syn. lecture, declaim, deliver; see address 2 .

• so to speak,

Syn. that is to say, as it were; in a manner of speaking, as the saying goes*; see accordingly .

• to speak of,

Syn. somewhat, a little, not much, worthy of mention; see some .

Syn.- speak and talk are generally synonymous, but speak often connotes formal address to an auditor or audience [ who will speak at the dinner? ] and talk often suggests informal colloquial conversation [ we were talking at dinner ] ; converse suggests a talking together by two or more people so as to exchange ideas and information [ the leaders of both countries met to converse for several hours ] ; discourse suggests a somewhat formal, detailed, extensive talking to another or others [ she was discoursing to us on Keats ]

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) v.

1. utter talk, say, state, mouth, voice, vocalize, articulate, verbalize, communicate, express, enunciate, pronounce, babble, blurt, cry, shout, bellow, shriek, rant, rave, exclaim, mutter, mumble, whine, murmur, whisper, stutter, stammer.

2. make a speech lecture, give a talk, discourse, orate, address, hold forth, preach, pontificate, deliver a sermon.

3. converse talk, chat, *shoot the breeze, confabulate. see talk

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) verb 1. To engage in spoken exchange: chat, confabulate, converse1, discourse, talk. Informal: confab, visit. See WORDS. 2. To direct speech to: address, talk. See WORDS. 3. To express oneself in speech: talk, verbalize, vocalize. Idioms: open one's mouth (or lips), put in (or into) words, wag one's tongue. See WORDS. 4. To talk to an audience formally: address, lecture, prelect. Archaic: bespeak. See WORDS.