speech

Plural: speeches

Noun

• The ability to express thoughts vocally; a formal address.
• the act of delivering a formal spoken communication to an audience
• (language) communication by word of mouth
  • "his speech was garbled"
• something spoken
  • "he could hear them uttering merry speeches"
• the exchange of spoken words
  • "they were perfectly comfortable together without speech"
• your characteristic style or manner of expressing yourself orally
  • "her speech was barren of southernisms"
  • "I detected a slight accent in his speech"
• a lengthy rebuke
• words making up the dialogue of a play
  • "the actor forgot his speech"
• the mental faculty or power of vocal communication
• The ability to speak; the faculty of uttering words or articulate sounds and vocalizations to communicate.
• The act of speaking, a certain style of it.
• A formal session of speaking, especially a long oral message given publicly by one person.
• A dialect, vernacular, or (dated) a language.
• Language used orally, rather than in writing.
• An utterance that is quoted; see direct speech, reported speech
• Public talk, news, gossip, rumour.

Verb

• To make a speech; to harangue.

Examples

• After the accident she lost her speech.
• He had a bad speech impediment.
• Her eloquent speech about word strategy impressed everyone at the Scrabble tournament.
• Her speech was soft and lilting.
• It was hard to hear his speech over the noise.
• The candidate made some ambitious promises in his campaign speech.
• This word is mostly used in speech.

Synonyms

actor's line, address, delivery, language, lecture, manner of speaking, oral communication, speech communication, spoken communication, spoken language, talking to, voice communication, words, allocution, leid, lingo, locution, monologue, oration, parlance, soliloquy, speech, tongue

Related Words

speak