speaking
speak·ing / ˈspēking/ • n. the action of conveying information or expressing one's thoughts and feelings in spoken language. ∎ the activity of delivering speeches or lectures: public speaking.• adj. used for or engaged in speech: you have a clear speaking voice. ∎ conveying meaning as though in words: she gave him a speaking look. ∎ (of a portrait) so like the subject as to seem to be alive and capable of speech: a speaking likeness. ∎ [in comb.] able to communicate in a specified language: an English-speaking guide.PHRASES: on speaking terms1. slightly acquainted.2. sufficiently friendly to talk to each other: she parted from her mother barely on speaking terms.—— speaking used to indicate the degree of accuracy intended in a statement or the point of view from which it is made: broadly speaking, there are three major models for local-central relations.speaking in tonguesanother term for glossolalia.