Definition of SAY

say

Plural: says

Noun

  • the chance to speak
    • "let him have his say"
  • 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.
  • A strainer for milk.

Verb

Verb Forms: said, saying, says, sayest, sayst, saith

  • To utter words, express an opinion, or state something.
  • express in words
  • report or maintain
    • "The registrar says that I owe the school money"
  • express a supposition
    • "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
    • "What does the law say?"
  • give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority
  • speak, pronounce, or utter in a certain way
    • "I cannot say `zip wire'"
  • communicate or express nonverbally
    • "What does this painting say?"
    • "Did his face say anything about how he felt?"
  • utter aloud
  • state as one's opinion or judgement; declare
    • "I say let's forget this whole business"
  • recite or repeat a fixed text
    • "Say grace"
  • indicate
    • "The clock says noon"
  • To pronounce.
  • To recite.
  • To tell, either verbally or in writing.
  • To indicate in a written form.
  • To have a common expression; used in singular passive voice or plural active voice to indicate a rumor or well-known fact.
  • Suppose, assume; used to mark an example, supposition or hypothesis.
  • 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.

Adv

  • For example; let us assume.

Intj

  • Used to gain someone's attention before making an inquiry or suggestion

Examples

  • A holiday somewhere warm – Florida, say – would be nice.
  • He said he would be here tomorrow.
  • He was driving pretty fast, say, fifty miles per hour.
  • Martha, will you say the Pledge of Allegiance?
  • Pick a color you think they'd like, say, peach.
  • Please say your name slowly and clearly.
  • Say he refuses. What do we do then?
  • Say your family is starving and you don't have any money, is it okay to steal some food?
  • Say, what did you think about the movie?
  • The sign says it’s 50 kilometres to Paris.
  • They say "when in Rome, do as the Romans do", which means "behave as those around you do."
  • What time does it say on the clock?
  • What will you SAY when you realize ’QI’ is a valid Scrabble word?

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English seyen, seien, seggen, from Old English seċġan (“to say, speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *saggjan, from Proto-Germanic *sagjaną (“to say”), from Proto-Indo-European *sokʷ-h₁-yé-, a suffixed o-grade form of *sekʷ- (“to tell, talk”).
Cognate with North Frisian sai, seede, sii (“to say”), West Frisian sizze (“to say”), Dutch zeggen (“to say”), German sagen (“to say”), Low German seggen (“to say, tell”), Luxembourgish soen (“to say”), Danish sige (“to say”), Faroese siga (“to say”), Icelandic segja (“to say”), Jamtish segi (“to say”), Norwegian Bokmål si (“to say”), Norwegian Nynorsk segja, seia, seie (“to say, tell”), Swedish säga (“to say”), Yiddish זאָגן (zogn, “to say; to tell”).
The adverb and interjection are from the verb.

Antonyms

sign, signal, write

Scrabble Score: 6

say: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
say: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
say: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 5

say: valid Words With Friends Word