What is "spoke"

Speak \Speak\, v. i. [imp. Spoke( SpakeArchaic); p. p. Spoken( Spoke, Obs. or Colloq.); p. pr. & vb. n. Speaking.] [OE. speken, AS. specan, sprecan; akin to OF.ries. spreka, D. spreken, OS. spreken, G. sprechen, OHG. sprehhan, and perhaps to Skr. sph[=u]rj to crackle, to thunder. Cf. Spark of fire, Speech.]

1. 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.

   Till at the last spake in this manner.
   --Chaucer.

   Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.
   --1 Sam. iii. 9.

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

   That fluid substance in a few minutes begins to set, as the tradesmen speak.
   --Boyle.

   An honest man, is able to speak for himself, when a knave is not.
   --Shak.

   During the century and a half which followed the Conquest, there is, to speak strictly, no English history.
   --Macaulay.

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

   Many of the nobility made themselves popular by speaking in Parliament against those things which were most grateful to his majesty.
   --Clarendon.

4. To discourse; to make mention; to tell.

   Lycan speaks of a part of C[ae]sar's army that came to him from the Leman Lake.
   --Addison.

5. To give sound; to sound.

   Make all our trumpets speak.
   --Shak.

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

   Thine eye begins to speak.
   --Shak.

   To speak of, to take account of, to make mention of.
   --Robynson (More's Utopia).

   To speak out, to speak loudly and distinctly; also, to speak unreservedly.

   To speak well for, to commend; to be favorable to.

   To speak with, to converse with. ``Would you speak with me?''
   --Shak.

   Syn: To say; tell; talk; converse; discourse; articulate; pronounce; utter.

Spoke \Spoke\ (sp[=o]k), imp. of Speak.

Spoke \Spoke\, n. [OE. spoke, spake, AS. sp[=a]ca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. [root]170. Cf. Spike a nail.]

1. The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly.

2. (Naut.) A projecting handle of a steering wheel.

3. A rung, or round, of a ladder.

4. A contrivance for fastening the wheel of a vehicle, to prevent it from turning in going down a hill.

   To put a spoke in one's wheel, to thwart or obstruct one in the execution of some design.

Spoke \Spoke\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spoked (sp[=o]kt); p. pr. & vb. n. Spoking.] To furnish with spokes, as a wheel.

"radius of a wheel," Old English spaca "spoke of a wheel, radius," related to spicing "large nail," from Proto-Germanic *spaikon (cognates: Old Saxon speca, Old Frisian spake, Dutch spaak, Old High German speicha, German speiche "spoke"), of uncertain origin, probably from PIE *spei- "sharp point" (see spike (n.1)).

Etymology 1 n. 1 A support structure that connects the axle or the hub of a wheel to the rim. 2 (context nautical English) A projecting handle of a steering wheel. 3 A rung of a ladder. 4 A device for fastening the wheel of a vehicle to prevent it from turning when going downhill. vb. (context transitive English) To furnish (a wheel) with spokes. Etymology 2

vb. (en-simple pastspeak)

1. v. express in speech; "She talks a lot of nonsense"; "This depressed patient does not verbalize" [syn: talk, utter, mouth, verbalize, verbalise]

2. exchange thoughts; talk with; "We often talk business"; "Actions talk louder than words" [syn: talk]

3. use language; "the baby talks already"; "the prisoner won't speak"; "they speak a strange dialect" [syn: talk]

4. give a speech to; "The chairman addressed the board of trustees" [syn: address]

5. make a characteristic or natural sound; "The drums spoke"

6. [also: spoken, spoke]

1. n. support consisting of a radial member of a wheel joining the hub to the rim [syn: radius]

2. one of the crosspieces that form the steps of a ladder [syn: rundle, rung]

See speak

A spoke is one of some number of rods radiating from the center of a wheel (the hub where the axle connects), connecting the hub with the round traction surface. The term originally referred to portions of a log that had been split lengthwise into four or six sections. The radial members of a wagon wheel were made by carving a spoke (from a log) into their finished shape. A spokeshave is a tool originally developed for this purpose. Eventually, the term spoke was more commonly applied to the finished product of the wheelwright's work, than to the materials he used.

Spoke is the 1996 debut album of Calexico, an Americana/ indie rock band from Arizona. It was initially released in Germany (Hausmusik label) under the group name Spoke.

A spoke is a rod connecting the hub of a wheel with the traction surface.

Spoke or Spokes may also refer to:

• Spokes, the Lothian Cycle Campaign, a UK cycling campaign organisation
• Spokes Canterbury, a New Zealand cycling advocacy organisation
• Spoke (album), a 1997 album by the band Calexico
• Spokes (album), a 2003 album by Plaid
• Radial features in the rings of Saturn