spawning-screen 
spawning-screen (spa'ning-skren), . 
CHllitre, a frame or screen on which the spawn 
of fish is collected. 
spawn-rising (rota'rl'zing), . In ii*li-<-n/i ,,,-,; 
the increase in size of spawn after ! lie milt has 
been added. 
spay 1 (spa), r. t. [Early mod. E. also.v/wi>; dial. 
xiidi-f, x/Kiiri', s/ii-in-f: su]>pose<l to be < (iacl. 
spoilt = Manx xpoiy = Bret. spui-lii'iii, xpti-u, 
castrate. geld; cf. \V. i/spuddit, exhaust, empty, 
ili/xiii/ililn, drain, exhaust; perhaps connected 
with L. apudo, < Gr. axdduv, a eunuch, < a-xav, 
draw, extract : see spade*.'] To castrate (a fe- 
male) by extirpating the ovaries. The process 
corresponds to castration or emasculation of the male, in- 
capacitating the female from breeding, or milking her bar- 
ren. Applied to hens, it corresponds to the caponizing of 
a cock. It is also practised on other animals, as swine. 
The animals fatten more readily, and the flesh is improved. 
Compare Battey's operation, under operation. 
spay'- 2 (spa), . [Also spaie; perhaps < OF. 
*espcis, espois, F. epois, branches of a stag's 
horns, < G. spitz, a point (cf. G. spit:-hirsch, a 
stag whose horns have begun to grow pointed) : 
see spit 2 , spit:. Ct.spittard, a two-year-old hart.] 
The male red-deer or hart in his third year. 
spay 3 , v. See spac. 
spayeret, spayret, . See spare*. 
Spea (spe'a), n. [NL. (Cope, 1863), < Gr. oircof, 
a cave.] A genus of spade-footed toads (Sca- 
pMopodidse or Pelobatidee), representing a low 
type of organization, and peculiar to America. 
Several species, as S, hammondi and S. bowbi/rons, inhabit 
arid regions in the western United States and Mexico, be- 
ing adapted to dry climate by the rapidity of their meta- 
morphosis. During rains in summer they come out of 
their holes in the ground, and lay their eggs in rain-pools, 
where the tadpoles are soon seen swimming. These get 
their legs very promptly, and go hopping about on dry 
land. They are very noisy in the spring, like the common 
spade-foots. 
speak (spek), r. ; pret. spoke (spake archaic or 
poetical), pp. spoken (spoke obs. or vulgar), 
ppr. speaking. [< ME. spekeu (pret. spake, 
spak, spec, xpsec, pp. spoken, spoke, earlier 
spteken, speokcue, i-speken, ispeke), < late AS. 
specan, earlier sprecan (pret. spsec, pi. spsecon, 
earlier spreec, pi. sprxcon, pp. specen, earlier 
sprecen) = OS. sprecan = OFries. spreka = D. 
spreken = MLG. LG. spreken = OHG. sprelihan, 
MHG. G. spreehen, speak; cf. MHG. spehten, 
chatter, G. dial, spcichten, speak; root unknown. 
Hence ult. speech, and perhaps spook.'] I. IH- 
trans. 1. To use articulate utterance in the 
tones of the speaking-voice, in distinction from 
those of the singing-voice ; exert the faculty 
of speech in uttering words for the expression 
of thought. 
Sire, are hi beo (ere they be] to dithe awreke 
We mote ihere the children speke. 
King Horn(E. E. T. S.), p. 69. 
Their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and 
could not speak in the Jews' language. Neh. xiii. 24. 
Many good scholars speak but fumblingly. 
B. Jonson, Discoveries. 
2. To make an oral address, as before a ma- 
gistrate, a tribunal, a public assembly, or a 
company; deliver a speech, discourse, argu- 
ment, plea, or the like: as, to speak for or 
against a person or a cause in court or in a le- 
gislature. 
Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to 
speak for thyself. Acts xxvi. 1. 
Lord Sandwich, by a most inconceivable jumble of cun- 
ning, spoke for the treaty. Walpole, Letters, II. 278. 
3. To make oral communication or mention; 
talk; converse: as, to speak with a stranger; 
to speak of or about something; they do not 
speak to each other. 
Than eche toke other be the hande, and wente spefcynge 
of many thinges till thei com to the hostell of Vlfln and 
Bretell. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ill. 467. 
I must thank him only, 
Lest my remembrance suffer ill report; 
At heel of that, defy him. . . . 
Would we had spoke together. 
Shak., A. and 0., ii. 2. 167. 
4. To communicate ideas by written or printed 
words ; make mention or tell in recorded speech. 
I speak concerning Christ and the church. Eph. v. 32. 
The Scripture speaks only of those to whom it speaks. 
Hammond. 
The Latin convent is thought to have been on mount 
(iilion, though some seem to speak of that hill as beyond 
the pool of Gihon. Pococke, Description of the East, II. i. 10. 
5. To make communication by any intelligible 
sound, action, or indication; impart ideas or 
information by any means other than speech or 
writing; give expression or intimation. 
And let the kettle to the trumpet speak, 
The trumpet to the cannoneer without. 
Shak., Hamlet, v. >. 286. 
That brnw ia fnmiw'd lines had flx'd at last, 
And njxike of passions, but of passion past. 
Byron, Lara, i. 5. 
Abate the stride, which speaks at man. 
Tennyson, Princess, ii. 
6. Of an organ-pipe, to emit or utter a tone; 
sound. 7. Sniit., to make a stirring and lap- 
ping sound in driving through the water: said 
of a ship. 
At length the sniffler reached us, and the sharp little 
vessel began to speak, as the rushing sound through the 
water is called ; while the wind sang like an Eoliaii harp 
through the taut wnther-rlEfrlng. 
M. Scott, Tom Cringle's Log, vlii. 
8. To bark when ordered: said of dogs ni 
spoken. See uvll or ill spoken, below. Properly speak- 
ing. See properl;/. So to speak. See oi. Speaking 
acquaintance, (a) A degree of acquaintance extending 
only to formal intercourse. 
Between them and Mr. Wright [the Hector] there was 
only a speaking acquaintance. 
Trollope, Belton Estate, I. 33. 
(6) A person with whom one is only sufficiently acquainted 
to Interchange formal salutations or indifferent conversa- 
tion when meeting casually. Speaking terms, a relation 
between persons in which they speak to or converse witli 
each other; usually, an acquaintance limited to speaking 
in a general way or on indifferent subjects. Not to be on 
speaking terms is either to be not sufficiently acquainted for 
passing speech or salutation, or to be so much estranged 
through disagreement as to be debarred from It. 
Our poorer gentry, who never went to town, and were 
probably not on speaking terms with two out of the five 
families whose parks lay within the distance of a drive. 
George Eliot, Felix Holt, i. 
To speak by the card. See cardi. To speak for. (a) 
To speak in behalf or in place of ; state the case, claims, 
or views of. 
The general and his wife are talking of it ; 
And she speaks for you stoutly. 
ShaJc., Othello, iii. 1. 47. 
There surely I shall speak for mine own self. 
Tennyson, Lancelot and Elaine. 
(6) To afford an indication of ; intimate ; denote. 
Every half mile some pretty farmhouse was shining red 
through clumps of trees, the many cattle-sheds speaking 
for the wealth of the owner. Froude, Sketches, p. 93. 
To speak holiday*. See holiday, n. To speak In 
lutestringt. See lutestring?. To speak like a book. 
See book. To speak of. (a) See def. 3. (6) To take or 
make account of ; mention as notable or of consequence ; 
deserve mention. 
Those Countries neerest Tigris Spring, 
In those first ages were most nourishing, 
Most spoken-of. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Colonies. 
Strangers . . . that pay to their owne Lords the tenth, 
and not to the owner of those liberties any thing to speake 
of. Capt. John Smith, Works, II. 244. 
To speak out, to speak loud or louder ; hence, to speak 
freely, boldly, or without reserve; disclose what one 
knows or thinks about a certain matter. To speak to. 
(a) To answer for ; attest ; account for. 
For a far longer time than they, the modern observato- 
ries, can directly speak to. Piazzi Smyth, Pyramid, p. 74. 
(6) To admonish or rebuke. [Colloq. and euphemistic.] 
" Papa," he exclaimed, in a loud, plaintive voice, as of 
one deeply injured, "will you speakto Giles? ... If this 
sort of thing is allowed to go on, ... it will perfectly 
ruin the independence of my character." 
Jean Ingelou; Off the Skelligs, xix. 
To speak to one's heart. See heart. To speak up, 
to express one's thoughts freely, boldly, or unreservedly ; 
speak out. 
Speak up, jolly blade, never fear. 
fiobin Hood and Little John (Child's Ballads, V. 221). 
To speak well for, to be a commendatory or favorable 
indication of or with regard to : as, his eagerness speaks 
, 
well for him, or for his success. Well or ill spoken, 
given to speaking well or ill ; given to using decorous 
indecorous speech, in either a literal or a moral sense. 
, 
given to speaking well or ill ; given to using decorous or 
either a literal 
Thou speak'st 
In better phrase and matter than thou didst. . . . 
Methinks you're better spoken. Shak., Lear, iv. (i. 10. 
He was wise and discreete and well spoken, having a 
grave & deliberate utterance. 
Bradford, Plymouth Plantation, p. 413. 
=Syn. Speak, Talk. Speak is more general in meaning 
than talk. Thus, a man may speak by uttering a single 
word, whereas to talk is to utter words consecutively ; so 
a man may be able to speak without being able to talk. 
Speak is also more formal in meaning : as, to speak before 
an audience ; while tll> implies a conversational manner 
of speaking. 
II. trans. 1. To utter orally and articulate- 
ly; express with the voice ; enunciate. 
And thei seide, "That he is, for this thre dayes he spake 
no speche, ne neuer shall speke worde." 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), I. 94. 
They sat down with him upon the ground seven days 
and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him. 
Job ii. 13. 
2. To declare; utter; make known by speech; 
tell, announce, or express in uttered words. 
Grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they 
may speak thy word. Acts iv. at. 
One that, to speak the truth, 
Had all those excellencies that our books 
Have only feign'd. 
Middleton, Anything for a Quiet Life, i. 1. 
speaker 
I am cnnir ' 
Thy praises. Bryant. Hymn to Death. 
3. To use in oral utterance; express one's self 
in the speech or tongue of: as. :i person may 
rend a language wlii.-li he cannot .;/.. 
The Arabic language is njn'iif very little north nf Aleppo. 
/./,,, Description of the Dast, II. L 164. 
4. To accost or address in speech: specifically 
(Mtlf.), to accost at sea: hail and hold com- 
munication with by the voice, as a passing ves- 
sel. 
About ix lii-lls, that is three o'clock V. M., we saw a 
sail on our larboard bow. I was very desirous, like every 
new sailor, to speak her. 
/(. //. Dana, Jr., Before the Mast, p. 10. 
5. To say, either in speech or in writing; use 
as a form of speech. 
A beavie of ladyes is spoken figuratively for a company 
or troupe : the tenne is taken of Larkes. 
Spenser, Shep. Cal., April, Glosse. 
6. To produce by means or as a result of speech; 
bring about or into being by utterance; call 
forth. 
They sung how God spoke out the World s vast Ball ; 
From Nothing and from No where call'd forth All. 
Coirtey, Davideis, i. 
7. To mention as; speak of as being; call. 
[Obsolete or rare.] 
Mayst thou live e\erspvken our protector! 
Fletcher, Valentinlan, v. 8. 
8. To make known as if by speech ; give speak- 
ing evidence of; indicate; show to be; de- 
clare. 
Whatever his reputed parents be, 
He hath a mind that speaks him right and noble. 
Fletcher, Spanish Curate, i. 1. 
And for the heaven's wide circuit, let it speak 
The Maker's high magnificence. 
M\lton,V. L.,viil. 101. 
Eleanor's countenance was dejected, yet sedate ; and its 
composure spoke her inured to all the gloomy objects to 
which they were advancing. 
Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey, xxiv. 
To speak a ship. See def. 4. above. To speak dag- 
gers. See dagyeri . To speak (a person) fair, to address 
in fair or pleasing terms ; speak to in a friendly way. 
Oh run, dear friend, and bring the lord Philaster ! speak 
him .fair; call him prince ; do him all the courtesy you 
can. Beau, and F I., Philaster, v. 3. 
To speak for, to establish a claim to by prior assertion ; 
ask or engage in advance: as, we have spoken for seats; 
she is already spoken for. To speak one's mind, to ex- 
press one's opinion, especially with emphasis. 
The Romans had a time once every year, when their 
Slaves might freely speake their minds. 
Milton, On Def. of Humb. Remonst. 
To speak out, to utter openly; proclaim boldly. 
But strait I'l make his Dumbness Mad a Tongue 
To speak out his imposture, and thy wrong. 
J. Beaumont, Psyche, II. 164. 
= Syn. Tell, State, etc. See sayl. 
speakable (spe'ka-bl), a. [< speak + -able.] 
1. Capable of being spoken ; fit to be uttered. 
The other. . . . heaping oaths upon oaths, . . . most 
horrible and not speakable, was rebuked of an honest 
man. Ascham, Toxophilus, i. 
2f. Having the power of speech. [Rare.] 
Redouble then this miracle, and say 
How cam'st thou speakable of mute? 
Milton, P. L., ix. 563. 
speaker (spe'ker), . [< ME. speker, spekere 
(= OFries. spreker (in forspreker) = D. MLG. 
spreker= OHG. sprahliari, spriicliari, spreltliari, 
stircliheri, sprechari, MHG. spreclitere, sprecher, 
G. sprecher, a speaker); < s/ieak + -er^.~\ 1. 
One who speaks or utters words ; one who talks 
or converses; one who makes a speech or an 
address; specifically, one who engages in or 
practises public speaking. 
Thei seyn also that Abraham was Frend to God, and 
that Moyses was famileer spekere with God. 
Mandeville, Travels, p. 136. 
Bearers far more strange of the Roman name, though no 
speakers of the Roman tongue, are there in special abun- 
dance. E. A. Freeman, Venice, p. 57. 
2. A proclaimer ; a publisher. [Rare.] 
After my death I wish no other herald, 
No other speaker of my living actions. 
Shak., Hen. VIII., iv. 2. 70. 
3. [eap.~\ The title of the presiding officer in 
the British House of Commons, in the House of 
Representatives in the Congress of the United 
States, in the lower houses of State legisla- 
tures in the United States, and in British colo- 
nial legislatures; also of the Lord Chancel- 
lor of Great Britain as presiding officer of the 
House of Lords. The Speaker of the House of Com- 
mons Is elected in each Parliament from its members, with 
the royal concurrence, generally without regard to poli- 
tics, and may preside in successive Parliaments of opposite 
political character. His powers (which have been much 
diminished in the course of time) are limited to the pres- 
