BESPEAKING

Verb

bespeaking

present participle of bespeak

Source: Wiktionary


BESPEAK

Be*speak", v. t. [imp. Bespoke, Bespake (Archaic); p. p. Bespoke, Bespoken (; p. pr. & vb. n. Bespeaking.] Etym: [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. Concluding, naturally, that to gratify his avarice was to bespeak his favor. Sir W. Scott.

2. To show beforehand; to foretell; to indicate. [They] bespoke dangers . . . in order to scare the allies. Swift.

3. To betoken; to show; to indicate by external marks or appearances. 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.

4. To speak to; to address. [Poetic] He thus the queen bespoke. Dryden.

Be*speak", v. i.

Definition: To speak. [Obs.] Milton.

Be*speak", n.

Definition: A bespeaking. Among actors, a benefit (when a particular play is bespoken.) "The night of her bespeak." Dickens.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

19 May 2025

CHEMICAL

(adjective) of or made from or using substances produced by or used in reactions involving atomic or molecular changes; “chemical fertilizer”


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Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, the most massive cup of coffee contained 22,739.14 liters and was created by Alcaldía Municipal de Chinchiná (Colombia) at Parque de Bolívar, Chinchiná, Caldas, Colombia, on 15 June 2019. Fifty people worked for more than a month to build this giant cup. The drink prepared was Arabic coffee.

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