speaking

/spikɪŋ/

/ˈspikɪŋ/

Other forms: speakings; speakingly

Speaking is what we do when we talk to each other, either out loud or through sign language. Many classrooms have a rule that speaking is not allowed during quizzes and exams.

In addition to the speaking we do to communicate feelings and ideas, there's also public speaking, when someone gives a speech in front of an audience. And if you're not on speaking terms with someone, it means that you're so angry with each other that you don't talk anymore.

Definitions of speaking

1. adjective

   capable of or involving speech or speaking
   “human beings--the speaking animals”

   “a speaking part in the play”

   synonyms:

   tongued

   having a manner of speaking as specified; often used in combination

   antonyms:

   nonspeaking

   not capable of or especially not involving speech or spoken lines
2. noun

   the utterance of intelligible speech
   synonyms: speech production

   types:

   speech

   the exchange of spoken words

   susurration, voicelessness, whisper, whispering

   speaking softly without vibration of the vocal cords

   stage whisper

   a loud whisper that can be overheard; on the stage it is heard by the audience but it supposed to be inaudible to the rest of the cast

   type of:

   utterance, vocalization

   the use of uttered sounds for auditory communication
3. noun

   delivering an address to a public audience
   synonyms: oral presentation, public speaking, speechmaking

   types:

   reading, recital, recitation

   a public instance of reciting or repeating (from memory) something prepared in advance

   debate, disputation, public debate

   the formal presentation of a stated proposition and the opposition to it (usually followed by a vote)

   declamation

   recitation of a speech from memory with studied gestures and intonation as an exercise in elocution or rhetoric

   type of:

   address, speech

   the act of delivering a formal spoken communication to an audience