Definitions for: Say


[n] the chance to speak; "let him have his say"
[v] communicate or express nonverbally; "What does this painting say?"; "Did his face say anything about how he felt?"
[v] give instructions to or direct somebody to do something; "I said to him to go home"; "She ordered him to do the shopping"; "The mother told the child to get dressed"
[v] express a supposition; "Let us say that he did not tell the truth"; "Let's say you had a lot of money--what would you do?"
[v] indicate; "The clock says noon"
[v] recite or repeat a fixed text; "Say grace"; "She said her `Hail Mary'"
[v] speak, pronounce, or utter in a certain way; "She pronounces French words in a funny way"; "I cannot say `zip wire'"; "Can the child sound out this complicated word?"
[v] utter aloud; "She said 'Hello' to everyone in the office"
[v] express in words; "He said that he wanted to marry her"; "tell me what is bothering you"; "state your opinion"; "state your name"
[v] state as one's opinion or judgement; declare; "I say let's forget this whole business"
[v] report or maintain; "He alleged that he was the victim of a crime"; "He said it was too late to intervene in the war"; "The registrar says that I owe the school money"
[v] have or contain a certain wording or form; "The passage reads as follows"; "What does the law say?"



Webster (1913) Definition: Say (s[=a]), obs. imp. of See.
Saw. --Chaucer.


Say (s[=a]), n. [Aphetic form of assay.]
1. Trial by sample; assay; sample; specimen; smack. [Obs.]

If those principal works of God . . . be but certain
tastes and says, as it were, of that final benefit.
--Hooker.

Thy tongue some say of breeding breathes. --Shak.

2. Tried quality; temper; proof. [Obs.]

He found a sword of better say. --Spenser.

3. Essay; trial; attempt. [Obs.]

To give a say at, to attempt. --B. Jonson.


Say, v. t.
To try; to assay. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.


Say, n. [OE. saie, F. saie, fr. L. saga, equiv. to sagum,
sagus, a coarse woolen mantle; cf. Gr. sa`gos. See Sagum.]
1. A kind of silk or satin. [Obs.]

Thou say, thou serge, nay, thou buckram lord!
--Shak.

2. A delicate kind of serge, or woolen cloth. [Obs.]

His garment neither was of silk nor say. --Spenser.


Say, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Said (s[e^]d), contracted from
sayed; p. pr. & vb. n. Saying.] [OE. seggen, seyen, siggen,
sayen, sayn, AS. secgan; akin to OS. seggian, D. zeggen, LG.
seggen, OHG. sag[=e]n, G. sagen, Icel. segja, Sw. s["a]ga,
Dan. sige, Lith. sakyti; cf. OL. insece tell, relate, Gr.
'e`nnepe (for 'en-sepe), 'e`spete. Cf. Saga, Saw a
saying.]
1. To utter or express in words; to tell; to speak; to
declare; as, he said many wise things.

Arise, and say how thou camest here. --Shak.

2. To repeat; to rehearse; to recite; to pronounce; as, to
say a lesson.

Of my instruction hast thou nothing bated In what
thou hadst to say? --Shak.

After which shall be said or sung the following
hymn. --Bk. of Com.
Prayer.

3. To announce as a decision or opinion; to state positively;
to assert; hence, to form an opinion upon; to be sure
about; to be determined in mind as to.

But what it is, hard is to say. --Milton.

4. To mention or suggest as an estimate, hypothesis, or
approximation; hence, to suppose; -- in the imperative,
followed sometimes by the subjunctive; as, he had, say
fifty thousand dollars; the fox had run, say ten miles.

Say, for nonpayment that the debt should double, Is
twenty hundred kisses such a trouble? --Shak.

It is said, or They say, it is commonly reported; it is
rumored; people assert or maintain.

That is to say, that is; in other words; otherwise.


Say, v. i.
To speak; to express an opinion; to make answer; to reply.

You have said; but whether wisely or no, let the forest
judge. --Shak.

To this argument we shall soon have said; for what
concerns it us to hear a husband divulge his household
privacies? --Milton.


Say, n. [From Say, v. t.; cf. Saw a saying.]
A speech; something said; an expression of opinion; a current
story; a maxim or proverb. [Archaic or Colloq.]

He no sooner said out his say, but up rises a cunning
snap. --L'Estrange.

That strange palmer's boding say, That fell so ominous
and drear Full on the object of his fear. --Sir W.
Scott.

Synonyms: allege, articulate, aver, enjoin, enounce, enunciate, order, pronounce, read, sound out, state, suppose, tell

See Also: accent, accentuate, add, announce, answer, append, aspirate, assert, asseverate, call, chance, click, command, compel, convey, declare, devoice, direct, drawl, explain, explode, express, feature, flap, get out, give, give tongue to, have, impart, instruct, introduce, labialise, labialize, lay out, lilt, lisp, maintain, mention, mispronounce, misstate, mouth, nasalise, nasalize, note, observe, opportunity, palatalise, palatalize, plead, preface, premise, present, raise, read, recite, record, register, remark, reply, represent, request, require, respond, retroflex, roll, round, send for, show, sibilate, sound, speak, speculate, stress, subvocalise, subvocalize, sum, sum up, summarise, summarize, supply, syllabise, syllabize, talk, trill, twang, utter, verbalise, verbalize, vocalise, vocalize, voice, vowelise, vowelize, warn

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