Say vs. Speak

(transitive) To pronounce.

Example: ‘Please say your name slowly and clearly.’;

(transitive) To recite.

Example: ‘Martha, will you say the Pledge of Allegiance?’;

To tell, either verbally or in writing.

Example: ‘He said he would be here tomorrow.’;

To indicate in a written form.

Example: ‘The sign says it’s 50 kilometres to Paris.’;

(impersonal) To have a common expression; used in singular passive voice or plural active voice to indicate a rumor or well-known fact.

Example: ‘They say "when in Rome, do as the Romans do", which means "behave as those around you do."’;

Suppose, assume; used to mark an example, supposition or hypothesis.

Example: ‘A holiday somewhere warm – Florida, say – would be nice.’; ‘Say he refuses. What do we do then?’; ‘Say your family is starving and you don't have any money, is it ok to steal some food?’;

(intransitive) To speak; to express an opinion; to make answer; to reply.

To bet as a wager on an outcome; by extension, used to express belief in an outcome by the speaker.

To try; to assay.

A chance to speak; the right or power to influence or make a decision.

A type of fine cloth similar to serge.

Trial by sample; assay; specimen.

Tried quality; temper; proof.

Essay; trial; attempt.

For example; let us assume.

Example: ‘Pick a color you think they'd like, say, peach.’; ‘He was driving pretty fast, say, fifty miles per hour.’;

(colloquial) Used to gain one's attention before making an inquiry or suggestion

Example: ‘Say, what did you think about the movie?’;

Saw.

Trial by sample; assay; sample; specimen; smack.

Example: ‘If those principal works of God . . . be but certain tastes and says, as it were, of that final benefit.’; ‘Thy tongue some say of breeding breathes.’;

Tried quality; temper; proof.

Example: ‘He found a sword of better say.’;

Essay; trial; attempt.

A kind of silk or satin.

Example: ‘Thou say, thou serge, nay, thou buckram lord!’;

A delicate kind of serge, or woolen cloth.

Example: ‘His garment neither was of silk nor say.’;

A speech; something said; an expression of opinion; a current story; a maxim or proverb.

Example: ‘He no sooner said out his say, but up rises a cunning snap.’; ‘That strange palmer's boding say,That fell so ominous and drearFull on the object of his fear.’;

To try; to assay.

To utter or express in words; to tell; to speak; to declare; as, he said many wise things.

Example: ‘Arise, and say how thou camest here.’;

To repeat; to rehearse; to recite; to pronounce; as, to say a lesson.

Example: ‘Of my instruction hast thou nothing batedIn what thou hadst to say?’; ‘After which shall be said or sung the following hymn.’;

To announce as a decision or opinion; to state positively; to assert; hence, to form an opinion upon; to be sure about; to be determined in mind as to.

Example: ‘But what it is, hard is to say.’;

To mention or suggest as an estimate, hypothesis, or approximation; hence, to suppose; - in the imperative, followed sometimes by the subjunctive; as, he had, say fifty thousand dollars; the fox had run, say ten miles.

Example: ‘Say, for nonpayment that the debt should double,Is twenty hundred kisses such a trouble?’;

To speak; to express an opinion; to make answer; to reply.

Example: ‘You have said; but whether wisely or no, let the forest judge.’; ‘To this argument we shall soon have said; for what concerns it us to hear a husband divulge his household privacies?’;

the chance to speak;

Example: ‘let him have his say’;

express in words;

Example: ‘He said that he wanted to marry her’; ‘tell me what is bothering you’; ‘state your opinion’; ‘state your name’;

report or maintain;

Example: ‘He alleged that he was the victim of a crime’; ‘He said it was too late to intervene in the war’; ‘The registrar says that I owe the school money’;

express a supposition;

Example: ‘Let us say that he did not tell the truth’; ‘Let's say you had a lot of money--what would you do?’;

have or contain a certain wording or form;

Example: ‘The passage reads as follows’; ‘What does the law say?’;

state as one's opinion or judgement; declare;

Example: ‘I say let's forget this whole business’;

utter aloud;

Example: ‘She said `Hello' to everyone in the office’;

give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority;

Example: ‘I said to him to go home’; ‘She ordered him to do the shopping’; ‘The mother told the child to get dressed’;

speak, pronounce, or utter in a certain way;

Example: ‘She pronounces French words in a funny way’; ‘I cannot say `zip wire'’; ‘Can the child sound out this complicated word?’;

recite or repeat a fixed text;

Example: ‘Say grace’; ‘She said her `Hail Mary'’;

communicate or express nonverbally;

Example: ‘What does this painting say?’; ‘Did his face say anything about how he felt?’;

indicate;

Example: ‘The clock says noon’;

utter words so as to convey information, an opinion, a feeling or intention, or an instruction

Example: ‘he said to come early’; ‘our parents wouldn't believe a word we said’; ‘‘Thank you,’ he said’; ‘he said the fund stood at £100,000’;

(of a text or a symbolic representation) convey specified information or instructions

Example: ‘the Act says such behaviour is an offence’;

enable a listener or reader to learn or understand something by conveying or revealing (information or ideas)

Example: ‘the film's title says it all’; ‘I don't want to say too much’; ‘her rise and fall says a lot about our brutal political system’;

(of a clock or watch) indicate (a specified time)

Example: ‘the clock says ten past two’;

be asserted or reported

Example: ‘it is said that she lived to over a hundred’; ‘they were said to be training freedom fighters’;

present a consideration in favour of or excusing (someone or something)

Example: ‘all I can say for him is that he's a better writer than some’;

utter the whole of (a speech or other set of words, typically one learned in advance)

Example: ‘the padre finished saying the Nunc Dimittis’;

assume something in order to work out what its consequences would be; make a hypothesis

Example: ‘let's say we pay in five thousand pounds in the first year’;

used parenthetically to indicate that something is being suggested as possible or likely but not certain

Example: ‘the form might include, say, a dozen questions’;

used to express surprise or to draw attention to a remark or question

Example: ‘say, did you notice any blood?’;

an opportunity for stating one's opinion or feelings

Example: ‘she let him have his say’;

an opportunity to influence developments and policy

Example: ‘the assessor will have a say in how the money is spent’; ‘the households concerned would still have some say in what happened’;

(intransitive) To communicate with one's voice, to say words out loud.

Example: ‘I was so surprised I couldn't speak.’; ‘You're speaking too fast.’;

(intransitive) To have a conversation.

Example: ‘It's been ages since we've spoken.’;

(by extension) To communicate or converse by some means other than orally, such as writing or facial expressions.

Example: ‘He spoke of it in his diary.’; ‘Speak to me only with your eyes.’; ‘Actions speak louder than words.’;

(intransitive) To deliver a message to a group; to deliver a speech.

Example: ‘This evening I shall speak on the topic of correct English usage.’;

(transitive) To be able to communicate in a language.

Example: ‘He speaks Mandarin fluently.’;

(transitive) To utter.

Example: ‘I was so surprised that I couldn't speak a word.’;

(transitive) To communicate (some fact or feeling); to bespeak, to indicate.

To understand (as though it were a language).

Example: ‘Sorry, I don't speak idiot.’; ‘So you can program in C. But do you speak C++?’;

(intransitive) To produce a sound; to sound.

To address; to accost; to speak to.

language, jargon, or terminology used uniquely in a particular environment or group.

Example: ‘Corporate speak; IT speak.’;

Speach, conversation.

(dated) a low class bar, a speakeasy.

To utter words or articulate sounds, as human beings; to express thoughts by words; as, the organs may be so obstructed that a man may not be able to speak.

Example: ‘Till at the last spake in this manner.’; ‘Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.’;

To express opinions; to say; to talk; to converse.

Example: ‘That fluid substance in a few minutes begins to set, as the tradesmen speak.’; ‘An honest man, is able to speak for himself, when a knave is not.’; ‘During the century and a half which followed the Conquest, there is, to speak strictly, no English history.’;

To utter a speech, discourse, or harangue; to adress a public assembly formally.

Example: ‘Many of the nobility made themselves popular by speaking in Parliament against those things which were most grateful to his majesty.’;

To discourse; to make mention; to tell.

Example: ‘Lycan speaks of a part of Cæsar's army that came to him from the Leman Lake.’;

To give sound; to sound.

Example: ‘Make all our trumpets speak.’;

To convey sentiments, ideas, or intelligence as if by utterance; as, features that speak of self-will.

Example: ‘Thine eye begins to speak.’;

To utter with the mouth; to pronounce; to utter articulately, as human beings.

Example: ‘They sat down with him upn ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him.’;

To utter in a word or words; to say; to tell; to declare orally; as, to speak the truth; to speak sense.

To declare; to proclaim; to publish; to make known; to exhibit; to express in any way.

Example: ‘It is my father;s musteTo speak your deeds.’; ‘Speaking a still good morrow with her eyes.’; ‘And for the heaven's wide circuit, let it speakThe maker's high magnificence.’; ‘Report speaks you a bonny monk.’;

To talk or converse in; to utter or pronounce, as in conversation; as, to speak Latin.

Example: ‘And French she spake full fair and fetisely.’;

To address; to accost; to speak to.

Example: ‘[He will] thee in hope; he will speak thee fair.’; ‘each village senior paused to scanAnd speak the lovely caravan.’;

express in speech;

Example: ‘She talks a lot of nonsense’; ‘This depressed patient does not verbalize’;

exchange thoughts; talk with;

Example: ‘We often talk business’; ‘Actions talk louder than words’;

use language;

Example: ‘the baby talks already’; ‘the prisoner won't speak’; ‘they speak a strange dialect’;

give a speech to;

Example: ‘The chairman addressed the board of trustees’;

make a characteristic or natural sound;

Example: ‘The drums spoke’;

say something in order to convey information or to express a feeling

Example: ‘in his agitation he was unable to speak’; ‘she refused to speak about the incident’;

have a conversation

Example: ‘last time we spoke, you told me you couldn't do the job’; ‘I'll speak to him if he rings up’;

utter (a word, message, etc.)

Example: ‘patients copy words spoken by the therapist’;

communicate in or be able to communicate in (a specified language)

Example: ‘my mother spoke Russian’;

make a speech or contribute to a debate

Example: ‘twenty thousand people attended to hear him speak’;

express the views or position of (another)

Example: ‘he claimed to speak for the majority of local people’;

convey one's views or position indirectly

Example: ‘speaking through his solicitor, he refused to join the debate’;

answer (a question) or address (an issue or problem)

Example: ‘we should be disappointed if the report did not speak to the issue of literacy’;

mention or discuss in speech or writing

Example: ‘the books speak of betrayal’;

talk to in order to reprove or advise

Example: ‘she tried to speak to Seb about his drinking’;

talk to in order to give or obtain information

Example: ‘he had spoken to the police’;

discuss or comment on formally

Example: ‘the Church wants to speak to real issues’;

appeal or relate to

Example: ‘the story spoke to him directly’;

(of behaviour, an object, etc.) serve as evidence for something

Example: ‘his frame spoke tiredness’; ‘everything in the house spoke of hard times and neglect’;

show (someone or something) to be in a particular state or to possess a certain quality

Example: ‘she had seen nothing that spoke him of immoral habits’;

(of a musical instrument or other object) make a sound when functioning

Example: ‘insufficient air circulates for the pipes to speak’; ‘the gun spoke again’;

(of a hound) bark.