speaker

¹ American  

[spee-ker] / ˈspi kər /

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.

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idioms

1. be / not be on speakers, speaking.

Speaker ² American  

[spee-ker] / ˈspi kər /

noun

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

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speaker ¹ British  

/ ˈspiːkə /

noun

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

2. See loudspeaker

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Speaker ² British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

• nonspeaker noun
• speakership noun

Etymology

Origin of speaker

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

Example Sentences

The “Amos ’n’ Andy” radio show was so popular that movie theaters scheduled around it and piped the audio in on their speakers.

From The Wall Street Journal

"Electric guitar, speakers, guitar pedals, a guitar amp, a trumpet, some sort of bongos, some pads for my computer music equipment," he recalls buying.

From BBC

Among the beloved consumer products that get shipped across the Atlantic: French wines and cheeses, Norwegian salmon, and Bang & Olufsen speakers, assembled in Denmark.

From The Wall Street Journal

Among the affected are monolingual speakers of Spanish, Chinese, Mandarin and Mixteco as well as foragers who may confuse the death cap mushroom for edible fungi from their native countries, according to experts.

From Los Angeles Times

Their framework locks any speaker into any position.

From The Wall Street Journal