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What is "to speak"

The Collaborative International Dictionary
to speak

Open \O"pen\ v. t. [imp. & p. p. Opened; p. pr. & vb. n. Opening.] [AS. openian. See Open,a.]

  1. To make or set open; to render free of access; to unclose; to unbar; to unlock; to remove any fastening or covering from; as, to open a door; to open a box; to open a room; to open a letter.

    And all the windows of my heart I open to the day.
    --Whittier.

  2. To spread; to expand; as, to open the hand.

  3. To disclose; to reveal; to interpret; to explain.

    The king opened himself to some of his council, that he was sorry for the earl's death.
    --Bacon.

    Unto thee have I opened my cause.
    --Jer. xx. 12.

    While he opened to us the Scriptures.
    --Luke xxiv. 32.

  4. To make known; to discover; also, to render available or accessible for settlements, trade, etc.

    The English did adventure far for to open the North parts of America.
    --Abp. Abbot.

  5. To enter upon; to begin; as, to open a discussion; to open fire upon an enemy; to open trade, or correspondence; to open an investigation; to open a case in court, or a meeting.

  6. To loosen or make less compact; as, to open matted cotton by separating the fibers.

    To open one's mouth, to speak.

    To open up, to lay open; to discover; to disclose.

    Poetry that had opened up so many delightful views into the character and condition of our ``bold peasantry, their country's pride.''
    --Prof. Wilson.

Usage examples of "to speak".

Consider a tender assassin, aliens who wish to speak to our sun, a lustful genie and a centuries-old nymphet, the real story of King Kong, the beginning of a revolution, an English department party that gets out of hand, and a man seeking his wife beyond the barrier of death.

He did not pretend, like a certain learned pundit, to speak the two thousand languages and four thousand idioms made use of in different parts of the globe, but he did know all the more important ones.

The man placed in a position like that we occupied must have been very brave to speak like this.

I began in the newly aroused ardor of my soul to speak enthusiastically to the Professor.

There is no reason now for him to remember how to speak Yilanè.

In my first voyages, while I was young, I was instructed by the oldest mariners, and learned to speak as they did.

I hope to speak to my wife at the end of this voyage, and to see my young.