1 [C] ~ (on / about sth) a formal talk that a person gives to an audience:
to give / make / deliver a speech on human rights * He made the announcement in a speech on television. * Several people made speeches at the wedding.
2 [U] the ability to speak:
I seemed to have lost the power of speech. * a speech defect * freedom of speech (= the right to say openly what you think)
3 [U] the way in which a particular person speaks:
Her speech was slurred-she was clearly drunk.
4 [U] the language used when speaking:
This expression is used mainly in speech, not in writing. * speech sounds
5 [C] a group of lines that an actor speaks in a play in the theatre:
She has the longest speech in the play.
seealsoFIGUREOFSPEECH
