speech
/spiːt͡ʃ/ noun A1- The ability to speak; the faculty of uttering words or articulate sounds and vocalizations to communicate. · He had a bad speech impediment.· After the accident she lost her speech.
- The act of speaking, a certain style of it. · It was hard to hear his speech over the noise.· Her speech was soft and lilting.
- A formal session of speaking, especially a long oral message given publicly by one person. · The candidate made some ambitious promises in his campaign speech.
- A dialect, vernacular, or (dated) a language.
- Language used orally, rather than in writing. · This word is mostly used in speech.
- An utterance that is quoted; see direct speech, reported speech
- Public talk, news, gossip, rumour.
Plural speeches
From the library
Having at last by guileful speeches succeeded in separating them, he attacked them without fear as they fed alone, and feasted on them one by one at his own leisure.
“Anne go to your room and stay there until I come up,” said Marilla, recovering her powers of speech with difficulty.
“Madame,” replied Villefort, with a mournful smile, “I have already had the honor to observe that my father has—at least, I hope so—abjured his past errors, and that he is, at the present moment, a firm and zealous friend to religion and order—a better royalist, possibly, than his son; for he has to atone for past dereliction, while I have no other impulse than warm, decided preference and conviction.” Having made this well-turned speech, Villefort looked carefully around to mark the effect of his oratory, much as he would have done had he been addressing the bench in open court.
Dorothy listened to this speech with wonder.
Other matches
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