*peak*

v. t. [ imp. Bespoke Bespake (Archaic); p. p. Bespoke, Bespoken p. pr. & vb. n. Bespeaking. ] [ OE. bispeken, AS. besprecan, to speak to, accuse; pref. be- + sprecan to speak. See Speak. ] 1. To speak or arrange for beforehand; to order or engage against a future time; as, to bespeak goods, a right, or a favor. [ 1913 Webster ]

Concluding, naturally, that to gratify his avarice was to bespeak his favor. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To show beforehand; to foretell; to indicate. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ They ] bespoke dangers . . . in order to scare the allies. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To betoken; to show; to indicate by external marks or appearances. [ 1913 Webster ]

When the abbot of St. Martin was born, he had so little the figure of a man that it bespoke him rather a monster. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To speak to; to address. [ Poetic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He thus the queen bespoke. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To speak. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A bespeaking. Among actors, a benefit (when a particular play is bespoken.) “The night of her bespeak.” Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who bespeaks. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The front piece of a cap; -- now more commonly called visor. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. able to communicate in English. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. [ Obs. ] See Forspeak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To foretell; to predict. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

My mother was half a witch; never anything that she forespake but came to pass. Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A prediction; also, a preface. [ Obs. ] Camden. Huloet. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Pref. for- + speak. ] 1. To forbid; to prohibit. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To bewitch. [ Obs. ] Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. able to communicate in French.
Syn. -- Francophone, Francophonic. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. able to communicate in the German language. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. Direct, forcible, and effective speaking. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A device which converts electrical signals into sounds loud enough to be heard at a distance, usually outdoors; it is used to amplify or transmit over a distance speech from a person, who is typically speaking into a microphone. Sometimes it is used to play recorded speech or music.
Syn. -- speaker, speaker unit, loudspeaker system, speaker system. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The characteristic style or manner that a person uses to express himself orally.
Syn. -- delivery. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. i. To err in speaking. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To utter wrongly. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. Having less than maximal use or demand or activity; -- of a period of time occurring as a defined part of a time cycle; as, off-peak telepone rates are available at night and on weekends; off-peak fares. [ Narrower terms: off-season ] peak [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

v. t. 1. To exceed in speaking. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To speak openly or boldly. T. Campbell. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To express more than. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. & i. [ AS. ofersprecan. ] To exceed in speaking; to speak too much; to use too many words. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. pek, AS. peac, perh of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. peac a sharp-pointed thing. Cf. Pike. ] 1. A point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates in a point; as, the peak, or front, of a cap. “Run your beard into a peak.” Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The top, or one of the tops, of a hill, mountain, or range, ending in a point; often, the whole hill or mountain, esp. when isolated; as, the Peak of Teneriffe. [ 1913 Webster ]

Silent upon a peak in Darien. Keats. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Naut.) (a) The upper aftermost corner of a fore-and-aft sail; -- used in many combinations; as, peak-halyards, peak-brails, etc. (b) The narrow part of a vessel's bow, or the hold within it. (c) The extremity of an anchor fluke; the bill. [ In the last sense written also pea and pee. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Fore peak. (Naut.) See under Fore. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Peaked p. pr. & vb. n. Peaking. ] 1. To rise or extend into a peak or point; to form, or appear as, a peak. [ 1913 Webster ]

There peaketh up a mighty high mount. Holand. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence: To achieve a maximum of numerical value, intensity of activity, popularity, or other characteristic, followed by a decline; as, the stock market peaked in January; his performance as a pitcher peaked in 1990; sales of the XTX model peaked at 20, 000 per year. [ PJC ]

3. To acquire sharpness of figure or features; hence, to look thin or sickly. “Dwindle, peak, and pine.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. [ Cf. Peek. ] To pry; to peep slyly. [ archaic ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Peak arch (Arch.), a pointed or Gothic arch. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. (Naut.) To raise to a position perpendicular, or more nearly so; as, to peak oars, to hold them upright; to peak a gaff or yard, to set it nearer the perpendicular. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Pointed; ending in a point; as, a peaked roof. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Oftener pēk"&ebreve_;d) Sickly; not robust. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]

a. 1. Mean; sneaking. [ Vulgar ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Pining; sickly; peakish. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Of or relating to a peak; or to peaks; belonging to a mountainous region. “Her peakish spring.” Drayton. “His peakish dialect.” Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Having peaks; peaked. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Having features thin or sharp, as from sickness; hence, sickly. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Having a peak or peaks. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Sickly; peaked. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To speak or utter again. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To answer; to echo. [ Obs. or Poetic ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. Spoke Spake mark>Archaic); 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. sphūrj 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Till at the last spake in this manner. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. 1 Sam. iii. 9. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To express opinions; to say; to talk; to converse. [ 1913 Webster ]

That fluid substance in a few minutes begins to set, as the tradesmen speak. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

An honest man, is able to speak for himself, when a knave is not. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

During the century and a half which followed the Conquest, there is, to speak strictly, no English history. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To utter a speech, discourse, or harangue; to adress a public assembly formally. [ 1913 Webster ]

Many of the nobility made themselves popular by speaking in Parliament against those things which were most grateful to his majesty. Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To discourse; to make mention; to tell. [ 1913 Webster ]

Lycan speaks of a part of Caesar's army that came to him from the Leman Lake. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To give sound; to sound. [ 1913 Webster ]

Make all our trumpets speak. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To convey sentiments, ideas, or intelligence as if by utterance; as, features that speak of self-will. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thine eye begins to speak. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To say; tell; talk; converse; discourse; articulate; pronounce; utter. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To utter with the mouth; to pronounce; to utter articulately, as human beings. [ 1913 Webster ]

They sat down with him upn ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him. Job. ii. 13. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To utter in a word or words; to say; to tell; to declare orally; as, to speak the truth; to speak sense. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To declare; to proclaim; to publish; to make known; to exhibit; to express in any way. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is my father;s muste
To speak your deeds. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Speaking a still good morrow with her eyes. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

And for the heaven's wide circuit, let it speak
The maker's high magnificence. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Report speaks you a bonny monk. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To talk or converse in; to utter or pronounce, as in conversation; as, to speak Latin. [ 1913 Webster ]

And French she spake full fair and fetisely. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To address; to accost; to speak to. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ He will ] thee in hope; he will speak thee fair. Ecclus. xiii. 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

each village senior paused to scan
And speak the lovely caravan. Emerson. [ 1913 Webster ]

To speak a ship (Naut.), to hail and speak to her captain or commander. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Capable of being spoken; fit to be spoken. Ascham. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Able to speak. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

pos>n. An establishment where alcoholic beverages were sold and drunk illegally, especially one operating during the prohibition era in the U.S. (1920-1932); a tavern or nightclub illegally selling alcoholic beverages. [ PJC ]

n. 1. One who speaks. Specifically: (a) One who utters or pronounces a discourse; usually, one who utters a speech in public; as, the man is a good speaker, or a bad speaker. (b) One who is the mouthpiece of others; especially, one who presides over, or speaks for, a delibrative assembly, preserving order and regulating the debates; as, the Speaker of the House of Commons, originally, the mouthpiece of the House to address the king; the Speaker of a House of Representatives. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A book of selections for declamation. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The office of speaker; as, the speakership of the House of Representatives. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Uttering speech; used for conveying speech; as, man is a speaking animal; a speaking tube. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Seeming to be capable of speech; hence, lifelike; as, a speaking likeness. [ 1913 Webster ]

A speaking acquaintance, a slight acquaintance with a person, or one which merely permits the exchange of salutations and remarks on indifferent subjects. --
Speaking trumpet, an instrument somewhat resembling a trumpet, by which the sound of the human voice may be so intensified as to be conveyed to a great distance. --
Speaking tube, a tube for conveying speech, especially from one room to another at a distance. --
To be on speaking terms, to be slightly acquainted. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of uttering words. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Public declamation; oratory. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ 1st pref. un- + bespeak. ] To unsay; hence, to annul or cancel. [ Obs. ] Pepys. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ 1st pref. un- + speak. ] To retract, as what has been spoken; to recant; to unsay. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. un- not + speakable. ] Not speakable; incapable of being uttered or adequately described; inexpressible; unutterable; ineffable; as, unspeakable grief or rage. -- Un*speak"a*bly, adv. [1913 Webster]

Ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. 1 Pet. i. 8. [1913 Webster]

See accommodating.
See aching.
See ailing.
See aiming.
See alarming.
See altering.
See appreciating.
See approving.
See aspiring.
See assisting.
See attempting.
See attending.
See bearing.
See befitting.
See beginning.
See believing.
See bleaching.
See bleeding.
See blemishing.
See blenching.
See blossoming.
See blushing.
See boding.
See branching.
See breathing.
See burning.
See calculating.
See ceasing.
See changing.
See charming.
See communicating.
See complaining.
See complying.
See conceiving.
See conducing.
See confessing.
See conniving.
See consenting.
See considering.
See conspiring.
See consulting.
See consuming.
See contending.
See contriving.
See conversing.
See convincing.
See dawning.
See decaying.
See delaying.
See depending.
See derogating.
See deserving.
See desiring.
See despairing.
See detesting.
See deviating.
See differencing.
See discerning.
See discording.
See discriminating.
See disobliging.
See dispensing.
See dissembling.
See dissolving.
See distinguishing.
See distracting.
See disturbing.
See doubting.
See dreading.
See drooping.
See ebbing.
See echoing.
See edifying.
See ending.
See enduring.
See engaging.
See enjoying.
See entering.
See enterprising.
See entertaining.
See envying.
See existing.
See fadging.
See fading.
See fainting.
See faltering.
See fearing.
See feigning.
See fighting.
See fitting.
See flagging.
See flattering.
See flinching.
See folding.
See forbearing.
See foreboding.
See foreseeing.
See forgiving.
See giving.
See grudging.
See harming.
See heeding.
See hesitating.
See hoping.
See hurting.
See importing.
See imposing.
See improving.
See interesting.
See intermitting.
See intoxicating.
See inviting.
See jarring.
See laboring.
See lingering.
See listening.
See loving.
See meddling.
See meriting.
See mistrusting.
See moving.
See murmuring.
See obliging.
See observing.
See offending.
See opening.
See pardoning.
See paying.
See perceiving.
See performing.
See perishing.
See pitying.
See pleasing.
See possessing.
See preaching.
See prepossessing.
See presuming.
See pretending.
See prevailing.
See prevaricating.
See profiting.
See promising.
See proving.
See quailing.
See questioning.
See reasoning.
See recalling.
See reclining.
See recurring.
See referring.
See reflecting.
See refunding.
See refusing.
See rejoicing.
See relaxing.
See relishing.
See remembering.
See repenting.
See repining.
See reproving.
See repulsing.
See resisting.
See resolving.
See resting.
See returning.
See rewarding.
See sanctifying.
See satisfying.
See searching.
See seeing.
See setting.
See shrinking.
See sinking.
See sleeping.
See slipping.
See slumbering.
See speaking.
See stinting.
See stirring.
See stooping.
See submitting.
See sufficing.
See suiting.
See surging.
See suspecting.
See sweating.
See swerving.
See sympathizing.
See tasting.
See thriving.
See tiring.
See toiling.
See trading.
See trembling.
See trespassing.
See trifling.
See vacillating.
See varying.
See walking.
See wandering.
See waning.
See wasting.
See wavering.
See weeping.
See winking.
See winning.
See withdrawing.
See withering.
See wondering.
See working.
See writing.
See yielding.
----- and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

The above classes of words are unlimited in extent, and such compounds may be formed by any writer or speaker at will from almost all the adjectives or participles in the language, excepting those which have a recognized and usual negative correspondent with the prefix -in. No attempt will be made, therefore, to define them all in this Dictionary; many will be omitted from its Vocabulary which are negations of the simple word, and are readily explained by prefixing a not to the latter. Derivatives of these words in -ly and -ness will also, for the most part, be omitted for the same or similar reasons. [ 1913 Webster ]

There will be inserted as separate articles with definitions, the following: -- [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Those which have acquired an opposed or contrary, instead of a merely negative, meaning; as, unfriendly, ungraceful, unpalatable, unquiet, and the like; or else an intensive sense more than a prefixed not would express; as, unending, unparalleled, undisciplined, undoubted, unsafe, and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Those which have the value of independent words, inasmuch as the simple words are either not used at all, or are rarely, or at least much less frequently, used; as, unavoidable, unconscionable, undeniable, unspeakable, unprecedented, unruly, and the like; or inasmuch as they are used in a different sense from the usual meaning of the primitive, or especially in one of the significations of the latter; as, unaccountable, unalloyed, unbelieving, unpretending, unreserved, and the like; or inasmuch as they are so frequently and familiarly used that they are hardly felt to be of negative origin; as, uncertain, uneven, and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Those which are anomalous, provincial, or, for some other reason, not desirable to be used, and are so indicated; as, unpure for impure, unsatisfaction for dissatisfaction, unexpressible for inexpressible, and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

II. Un- is prefixed to nouns to express the absence of, or the contrary of, that which the noun signifies; as, unbelief, unfaith, unhealth, unrest, untruth, and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Compounds of this last class are given in full in their proper order in the Vocabulary. [ 1913 Webster ]