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more about bespeak
bespeak |
4 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Bespeak \Be*speak"\, v. i. To speak. [Obs.] --Milton. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Bespeak \Be*speak"\, v. t. [imp. {Bespoke}, {Bespake} (Archaic); p. p. {Bespoke}, {Bespoken}; p. pr & vb n. {Bespeaking}.] [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. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Bespeak \Be*speak"\, n. A bespeaking. Among actors, a benefit (when a particular play is bespoken.) ``The night of her bespeak.'' --Dickens. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: bespeak v 1: be a signal for or a symptom of "These symptoms indicate a serious illness" [syn: {betoken}, {indicate}, {point}, {signal}] 2: express the need or desire for ask for "She requested an extra bed in her room" [syn: {request}, {call for}, {quest}]
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