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SPEECH
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The mental faculty or power of vocal communication
Example:
language sets homo sapiens apart from all other animals
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("speech" is a kind of...):
faculty; mental faculty; module (one of the inherent cognitive or perceptual powers of the mind)
Meronyms (parts of "speech"):
lexis (all of the words in a language; all word forms having meaning or grammatical function)
lexicon; mental lexicon; vocabulary (a language user's knowledge of words)
Domain member category:
verbalise; verbalize (convert into a verb)
Derivation:
speak (use language)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A lengthy rebuke
Example:
the teacher gave him a talking to
Synonyms:
lecture; speech; talking to
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("speech" is a kind of...):
rebuke; reprehension; reprimand; reproof; reproval (an act or expression of criticism and censure)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "speech"):
preaching; sermon (a moralistic rebuke)
curtain lecture (a private lecture to a husband by his wife)
Derivation:
speechify (make speeches; hold forth, or harangue with a certain degree of formality)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Words making up the dialogue of a play
Example:
the actor forgot his speech
Synonyms:
actor's line; speech; words
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("speech" is a kind of...):
line (text consisting of a row of words written across a page or computer screen)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "speech"):
aside (a line spoken by an actor to the audience but not intended for others on the stage)
cue (an actor's line that immediately precedes and serves as a reminder for some action or speech)
monologue (a (usually long) dramatic speech by a single actor)
soliloquy (a (usually long) dramatic speech intended to give the illusion of unspoken reflections)
throwaway (words spoken in a casual way with conscious under-emphasis)
Holonyms ("speech" is a part of...):
dialog; dialogue (the lines spoken by characters in drama or fiction)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Your characteristic style or manner of expressing yourself orally
Example:
I detected a slight accent in his speech
Synonyms:
delivery; manner of speaking; speech
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("speech" is a kind of...):
expressive style; style (a way of expressing something (in language or art or music etc.) that is characteristic of a particular person or group of people or period)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "speech"):
inflection; modulation (a manner of speaking in which the loudness or pitch or tone of the voice is modified)
inflection; prosody (the patterns of stress and intonation in a language)
elocution (an expert manner of speaking involving control of voice and gesture)
tone; tone of voice (the quality of a person's voice)
shibboleth (a manner of speaking that is distinctive of a particular group of people)
tongue (a manner of speaking)
catch (a break or check in the voice (usually a sign of strong emotion))
address (the manner of speaking to another individual)
Holonyms ("speech" is a part of...):
paralanguage; paralinguistic communication (the use of manner of speaking to communicate particular meanings)
Sense 5
Meaning:
(language) communication by word of mouth
Example:
he recorded the spoken language of the streets
Synonyms:
language; oral communication; speech; speech communication; spoken communication; spoken language; voice communication
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("speech" is a kind of...):
auditory communication (communication that relies on hearing)
Domain category:
language; linguistic communication (a systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional symbols)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "speech"):
monologue; soliloquy (speech you make to yourself)
dictation (speech intended for reproduction in writing)
charm; magic spell; magical spell; spell (a verbal formula believed to have magical force)
monologue (a long utterance by one person (especially one that prevents others from participating in the conversation))
idiolect (the language or speech of one individual at a particular period in life)
non-standard speech (speech that differs from the usual accepted, easily recognizable speech of native adult members of a speech community)
expression; locution; saying (a word or phrase that particular people use in particular situations)
discussion; give-and-take; word (an exchange of views on some topic)
conversation (the use of speech for informal exchange of views or ideas or information etc.)
orthoepy; pronunciation (the way a word or a language is customarily spoken)
words (the words that are spoken)
Sense 6
Meaning:
The exchange of spoken words
Example:
they were perfectly comfortable together without speech
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("speech" is a kind of...):
speaking; speech production (the utterance of intelligible speech)
Derivation:
speak (exchange thoughts; talk with)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Something spoken
Example:
he could hear them uttering merry speeches
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("speech" is a kind of...):
utterance; vocalization (the use of uttered sounds for auditory communication)
Derivation:
speak (express in speech)
Sense 8
Meaning:
The act of delivering a formal spoken communication to an audience
Example:
he listened to an address on minor Roman poets
Synonyms:
address; speech
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("speech" is a kind of...):
speech act (the use of language to perform some act)
Meronyms (parts of "speech"):
introduction (the first section of a communication)
close; closing; conclusion; end; ending (the last section of a communication)
body (the central message of a communication)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "speech"):
discourse; preaching; sermon (an address of a religious nature (usually delivered during a church service))
oral presentation; public speaking; speaking; speechmaking (delivering an address to a public audience)
oratory (addressing an audience formally (usually a long and rhetorical address and often pompous))
litany (any long and tedious address or recital)
lecture; public lecture; talk (a speech that is open to the public)
inaugural; inaugural address (an address delivered at an inaugural ceremony (especially by a United States president))
impromptu (an extemporaneous speech or remark)
dithyramb (a wildly enthusiastic speech or piece of writing)
colloquium (an address to an academic meeting or seminar)
allocution ((rhetoric) a formal or authoritative address that advises or exhorts)
Instance hyponyms:
Gettysburg Address (a three-minute address by Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War at the dedication of a national cemetery on the site of the Battle of Gettysburg (November 19, 1863))
Derivation:
speak (give a speech to)
speechify (make speeches; hold forth, or harangue with a certain degree of formality)
Context examples:
"My God, Hans!" was Edith's first speech.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
The words came out in broken, strenuous speech, while the lady's fair face was writhed and drawn like that of one who looks upon a horror which strikes the words from her lips.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
His speech was clear and plain, with none of those strange London ways which had so amazed me.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
At last Merry seemed to think a speech might help matters.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
While I improved in speech, I also learned the science of letters as it was taught to the stranger, and this opened before me a wide field for wonder and delight.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
His speech was to the following effect, for I took notes of it as soon as he left me:—
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
Dorothy listened to this speech with wonder.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
There was the stuff to write, if he could only find speech.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
Infant cries activate specific brain regions related to movement and speech, according to a National Institutes of Health study.
(Study identifies brain patterns underlying mothers’ responses to infant cries, National Institutes of Health)
The patients were asked to speak full sentences, and the data obtained from brain scans was then used to drive computer-generated speech.
(Scientists translate brain signals into speech sounds, National Institutes of Health)
