verb
express one's opinion openly and without fear or hesitation
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John spoke up at the meeting
• Syn: ↑opine, ↑speak up, ↑animadvert, ↑sound off
• Hypernyms: ↑declare
• Hyponyms: ↑editorialize, ↑editorialise
• Verb Frames:
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Somebody ——s that CLAUSE
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[verb]
speak one's mind, have one's say, make one's position plain
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SPEAK PUBLICLY, speak openly, speak frankly, speak one's mind, sound off, stand up and be counted.
→ speak
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verbEtymology: Middle English speken out, from speken to speak + out
1. : to speak loud enough to be heard
asked him to speak out or sit down
2. : to speak boldly or unreservedly
stand up and speak out for the president's whole program — Sinclair Weeks
spoke out … forthrightly against the carpetbag militia — American Guide Series: Arkansas
3. : to express an opinion freely and frankly
everyone of us has the obligation to speak out, to exchange ideas — Wendell Willkie
: to make known verbally : declare
spoke out his mind and showed that he was not too well pleased — Augustus Jessopp
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speak out
To speak boldly, freely, unreservedly, or so as to be easily heard (speakˈout noun)
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Main Entry: ↑speak
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ˌspeak ˈout [intransitive] [present tense I/you/we/they speak out he/she/it speaks out present participle speaking out past tense spoke out past participle spoken out] phrasal verb
to state your opinion firmly and publicly about something, especially in order to protest against or defend something
He had always spoken out in favour of gay rights.
Thesaurus: to give your opinionsynonym
Main entry: speak
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speak out (or up)
express one's feelings or opinions frankly and publicly
the administration will be forthright in speaking out against human rights abuses
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speak out [phrasal verb]
: to speak freely and confidently about something : to express an opinion in an open way
She is never afraid to speak out on controversial issues.
— often + against
Protesters spoke out against the decision.
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Main Entry: ↑speak
Useful english dictionary. 2012.