Bespeak

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Concluding, naturally, that to gratify his avarice
              was to bespeak his favor.             --Sir W.
                                                    Scott.
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     2. To show beforehand; to foretell; to indicate.
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              [They] bespoke dangers . . . in order to scare the
              allies.                               --Swift.
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     3. To betoken; to show; to indicate by external marks or
        appearances.
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              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.
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     4. To speak to; to address. [Poetic]
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              He thus the queen bespoke.            --Dryden.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Bespeak \Be*speak"\, v. i.
     To speak. [Obs.] --Milton.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Bespeak \Be*speak"\, n.
     A bespeaking. Among actors, a benefit (when a particular play
     is bespoken.) "The night of her bespeak." --Dickens.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  bespeak
       v 1: be a signal for or a symptom of; "These symptoms indicate a
            serious illness"; "Her behavior points to a severe
            neurosis"; "The economic indicators signal that the euro
            is undervalued" [syn: {betoken}, {indicate}, {point}, {signal}]
       2: express the need or desire for; ask for; "She requested an
          extra bed in her room"; "She called for room service"
          [syn: {request}, {call for}, {quest}]
       [also: {bespoken}, {bespoke}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  113 Moby Thesaurus words for "bespeak":
     accost, address, announce, apostrophize, appeal to, apply for,
     apply to, approach, approve, argue, ask, ask for, attest,
     be construed as, be indicative of, be significant of,
     be symptomatic of, beg leave, betoken, book, breathe, brief,
     buttonhole, call for, call to, characterize, connote, crave,
     demand, demonstrate, denominate, denote, desire, differentiate,
     disclose, display, employ, engage, entail, evidence, evince,
     exhibit, express, file for, furnish evidence, give evidence,
     give indication of, give token, go to show, greet, hail, halloo,
     highlight, hint, hire, identify, illustrate, imply, import, indent,
     indicate, invoke, involve, make a request, make a requisition,
     make application, manifest, mark, mean, memorialize, note, order,
     point to, preengage, put in for, recruit, refer to, request,
     requisition, reserve, retain, reveal, salute, set forth, show,
     show signs of, sign on, sign up, sign up for, signalize, signify,
     solicit, speak, speak fair, speak for itself, speak to,
     speak volumes, spell, stand for, suggest, symbolize, symptomatize,
     symptomize, take aside, take into employment, take on, talk to,
     tell, tend to show, testify, whistle for, wish, witness