the faculty or power of speaking; oral communication; ability to express one's thoughts and emotions by speech sounds and gesture

Losing her speech made her feel isolated from humanity.

the act of speaking

He expresses himself better in speech than in writing.

something that is spoken; an utterance, remark, or declaration

We waited for some speech that would indicate her true feelings.

a form of communication in spoken language, made by a speaker before an audience for a given purpose

a fiery speech.

any single utterance of an actor in the course of a play, motion picture, etc.

the form of utterance characteristic of a particular people or region; a language or dialect.

manner of speaking, as of a person

Your slovenly speech is holding back your career.

a field of study devoted to the theory and practice of oral communication.

Archaic . rumor.

noun

listening , quiet , silence

noun

accent , articulation , communication , conversation , dialect , dialogue , diction , discussion , doublespeak , double talk , elocution , enunciation , expressing , expression , idiom , intercourse , jargon , language , lingo , locution , mother tongue , native tongue , oral communication , palaver , parlance , prattle , pronunciation , prose , speaking , spiel , tone , tongue , utterance , verbalization , vernacular , vocal expression , vocalization , vocalizing , voice , voicing , address , allocution , appeal , bombast , chalk talk , commentary , debate , declamation , diatribe , discourse , disquisition , dissertation , eulogy , exhortation , harangue , homily , invocation , keynote , lecture , opus , oration , oratory , panegyric , paper , parley , pep talk * , pitch , prelection , recitation , rhetoric , salutation , sermon , spiel * , stump * , tirade , valedictory , talk , chat , colloquy , confabulation , converse , drivel , monologue , narration , soliloquy , statement