Hypertext Webster Gateway: "bespeak"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Bespeak \Be*speak"\, v. i.
To speak. [Obs.] --Milton.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Bespeak \Be*speak"\, v. t. [imp. {Bespoke}, {Bespake} (Archaic);
p. p. {Bespoke}, {Bespoken}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Bespeaking}.]
[OE. bispeken, AS. besprecan, to speak to, accuse; pref. be-
+ sprecan to speak. See {Speak}.]
1. To speak or arrange for beforehand; to order or engage
against a future time; as, to bespeak goods, a right, or a
favor.
Concluding, naturally, that to gratify his avarice
was to bespeak his favor. --Sir W.
Scott.
2. To show beforehand; to foretell; to indicate.
[They] bespoke dangers . . . in order to scare the
allies. --Swift.
3. To betoken; to show; to indicate by external marks or
appearances.
When the abbot of St. Martin was born, he had so
little the figure of a man that it bespoke him
rather a monster. --Locke.
4. To speak to; to address. [Poetic]
He thus the queen bespoke. --Dryden.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Bespeak \Be*speak"\, n.
A bespeaking. Among actors, a benefit (when a particular play
is bespoken.) ``The night of her bespeak.'' --Dickens.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
bespeak
v 1: be a signal for or a symptom of; "These symptoms indicate a
serious illness"; "Her behavior points to a severe
neurosis"; "The economic indicators signal that the euro
is undervalued" [syn: {betoken}, {indicate}, {point}, {signal}]
2: express the need or desire for; ask for; "She requested an
extra bed in her room"; "She called for room service"
[syn: {request}, {call for}, {quest}]
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