bespeak
Americanverb (used with object)
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to ask for in advance.
to bespeak the reader's patience.
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to reserve beforehand; engage in advance; make arrangements for.
to bespeak a seat in a theater.
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Literary. to speak to; address.
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to show; indicate.
This bespeaks a kindly heart.
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Obsolete. to foretell; forebode.
verb
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to engage, request, or ask for in advance
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to indicate or suggest
this act bespeaks kindness
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poetic to speak to; address
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archaic to foretell
Etymology
Origin of bespeak
before 900; Middle English bespeken, Old English besprecan. See be-, speak
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Under dark dusk and through the rainy streets that bespeak the Old Smoke’s subpar drainage system, we ride to the Saatchi Gallery.
From New York Times • Dec. 27, 2022
Personally I am devoted to Jake, his puppyish enthusiasm, his liveliness and fleetness of non-toxic banter which all bespeak a profound purity of soul.
From The Guardian • Aug. 9, 2019
Robyn’s radical career moves bespeak that security; as a Canadian, I’ve seen how access to public health care alone widens artists’ range of choices.
From Slate • Oct. 29, 2018
Her rounded shoulders, with her arms folded in front of her, bespeak a combination of abjection and defiance: an unsparing portrait of the artist as a young woman.
From The New Yorker • Sep. 16, 2018
I requested Octav. to bespeak an Apparatus from a Glazier but he would not & defied me.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
