WordWeb Online

1. The act of delivering a formal spoken communication to an audience
   "he listened to a speech on minor Roman poets";
   - address
    
2. (language) communication by word of mouth
   "his speech was garbled";
   - speech communication, spoken communication, spoken language, language, voice communication, oral communication
    
3. Something spoken
   "he could hear them uttering merry speeches"
    
4. The exchange of spoken words
   "they were perfectly comfortable together without speech"
    
5. Your characteristic style or manner of expressing yourself orally
   "her speech was barren of southernisms"; "I detected a slight accent in his speech";
   - manner of speaking, delivery
    
6. A lengthy rebuke
   "a good speech was my father's idea of discipline";
   - lecture, talking to
    
7. Words making up the dialogue of a play
   "the actor forgot his speech";
   - actor's line, words
    
8. The mental faculty or power of vocal communication
   "speech sets homo sapiens apart from all other animals";
   - language

Derived forms: speeches

Type of: auditory communication, expressive style, faculty, line, mental faculty, module, rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval, speaking, speech act, speech production, style, utterance, vocalization

Part of: dialog [US], dialogue, paralanguage, paralinguistic communication

Encyclopedia: Speech, language, and the law