speaker

¹

[spee-ker]

noun

1. a person who speaks.

2. a person who speaks formally before an audience; lecturer; orator.

3. (usually initial capital letter),  the presiding officer of the U.S. House of Representatives, the British House of Commons, or other such legislative assembly.

4. Also called loudspeaker. an electroacoustic device, often housed in a cabinet, that is connected as a component in an audio system, its function being to make speech or music audible.

5. a book of selections for practice in declamation.

Speaker

²

[spee-ker]

noun

1. Tris(tram E.), 1888–1958, U.S. baseball player.

speaker

¹

/ ˈspiːkə /

noun

1. a person who speaks, esp at a formal occasion

2. See loudspeaker

Speaker

²

/ ˈspiːkə /

noun

1. the presiding officer in any of numerous legislative bodies, including the House of Commons in Britain and Canada and the House of Representatives in the US, Australia, and New Zealand

Other Word Forms

• speakership noun
• nonspeaker noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of speaker¹

Middle English word dating back to 1275–1325; speak, -er ¹

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. be / not be on speakers, speaking.

Example Sentences

A Federal Reserve speaker a day is keeping the selloff away and seems to be the perfect tonic for jittery markets.

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The IRGC, the speaker of the parliament, Mohammad Ghalibaf, and an entire range of informal actors in religious foundations and seminaries also have their say.

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Holding it down causes waterspouts to spin up all around you, dancing on their tails, merging and splitting—the immersiveness comes courtesy of a speaker in the driver’s headrest.

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Tiny speakers built into the frame’s temples deliver natural amplification in noisy environments, according to our testers with mild to moderate hearing loss.

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The purpose-built main stage building was completed in just five months, including over a thousand moving lights, 118 speakers and dozens of laser, smoke and bubble machines.

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