browse words by letter
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
v
w
x
y
z
say |
10 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Say \Say\ (s[=a]), obs. imp. of {See}. Saw. --Chaucer. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Say \Say\ (s[=a]), n. [Aphetic form of assay.] 1. Trial by sample; assay; sample; specimen; smack. [Obs.] If those principal works of God . . . be but certain tastes and says, as it were of that final benefit. --Hooker. Thy tongue some say of breeding breathes. --Shak. 2. Tried quality; temper; proof. [Obs.] He found a sword of better say --Spenser. 3. Essay; trial; attempt. [Obs.] {To give a say at}, to attempt. --B. Jonson From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Say \Say\, v. t. To try to assay. [Obs.] --B. Jonson From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Say \Say\, n. [OE. saie, F. saie, fr L. saga, equiv. to sagum, sagus, a coarse woolen mantle; cf Gr sa`gos. See {Sagum}.] 1. A kind of silk or satin. [Obs.] Thou say thou serge, nay, thou buckram lord! --Shak. 2. A delicate kind of serge, or woolen cloth. [Obs.] His garment neither was of silk nor say --Spenser. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Say \Say\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Said} (s[e^]d), contracted from sayed; p. pr & vb n. {Saying}.] [OE. seggen, seyen, siggen, sayen, sayn, AS secgan akin to OS seggian D. zeggen LG seggen, OHG. sag[=e]n, G. sagen, Icel. segja, Sw s["a]ga, Dan. sige, Lith. sakyti; cf OL insece tell relate, Gr 'e`nnepe (for 'en-sepe), 'e`spete. Cf {Saga}, {Saw} a saying.] 1. To utter or express in words to tell to speak; to declare; as he said many wise things Arise, and say how thou camest here --Shak. 2. To repeat; to rehearse; to recite; to pronounce; as to say a lesson. Of my instruction hast thou nothing bated In what thou hadst to say? --Shak. After which shall be said or sung the following hymn. --Bk. of Com. Prayer. 3. To announce as a decision or opinion; to state positively; to assert; hence to form an opinion upon to be sure about to be determined in mind as to But what it is hard is to say --Milton. 4. To mention or suggest as an estimate, hypothesis, or approximation; hence to suppose; -- in the imperative, followed sometimes by the subjunctive; as he had say fifty thousand dollars; the fox had run, say ten miles. Say for nonpayment that the debt should double, Is twenty hundred kisses such a trouble? --Shak. {It is said}, or {They say}, it is commonly reported; it is rumored; people assert or maintain. {That is to say}, that is in other words otherwise. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Say \Say\, v. i. To speak; to express an opinion; to make answer; to reply. You have said but whether wisely or no let the forest judge. --Shak. To this argument we shall soon have said for what concerns it us to hear a husband divulge his household privacies? --Milton. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Say \Say\, n. [From {Say}, v. t.; cf {Saw} a saying.] A speech; something said an expression of opinion; a current story; a maxim or proverb. [Archaic or Colloq.] He no sooner said out his say but up rises a cunning snap. --L'Estrange. That strange palmer's boding say That fell so ominous and drear Full on the object of his fear. --Sir W. Scott. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: say n : the chance to speak; "let him have his say" v 1: express an idea, etc in words "He said that he wanted to marry her"; "tell me what is bothering you"; "state your opinion" [syn: {state}, {tell}] 2: report or maintain; "He alleged that he was the victim of a crime"; "He said it was too late to intervene in the war"; "The registrar says that I owe the school money" [syn: {allege}, {aver}] 3: express a supposition; "Let us say that he did not tell the truth"; "Let's say you had a lot of money--what would you do?" [syn: {suppose}] 4: have or contain a certain wording or form "The passage reads as follows"; "What does the law say?" [syn: {read}] 5: state as one's opinion or judgement; declare; "I say let's forget this whole business" 6: utter aloud; "She said 'Hello' to everyone in the office" 7: tell somebody to do something "I said to him to go home"; "She ordered him to do the shopping" [syn: {order}, {tell}, {enjoin}] 8: speak, pronounce, or utter in a certain way "She pronounces French words in a funny way"; "I cannot say `zip wire'" [syn: {pronounce}, {articulate}, {enounce}, {enunciate}] 9: recite or repeat a fixed text; "Say grace"; "She said her `Hail Mary'" 10: communicate or express nonverbally; "What does this painting say?" "Did his face say anything about how he felt?" 11: indicate; "The clock says noon" From Jargon File (4.2.3, 23 NOV 2000) [jargon]: say vt 1. To type to a terminal. "To list a directory verbosely, you have to say `ls -l'." Tends to imply a {newline}-terminated command (a `sentence'). 2. A computer may also be said to `say' things to you even if it doesn't have a speech synthesizer, by displaying them on a terminal in response to your commands. Hackers find it odd that this usage confuses {mundane}s. From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (13 Mar 01) [foldoc]: say A human may say" things to a computer by typing them on a terminal. "To list a directory verbosely, say "ls -l"." Tends to imply a {newline}-terminated command (a "sentence"). A computer may say" things to you even if it doesn't have a speech synthesiser, by displaying them on a terminal in response to your commands. This usage often confuses {mundane}s. [{Jargon File}]
more about say
This work is licensed under a
