SAY • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Say

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/seɪ/ Listen

verb

Say v. t. To try; to assay. (Obs.)

Say v. t. (past & past part. said; pres. part. saying)

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."

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?" "After which shall be said or sung the following hymn."

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."

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?"

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. (past & past part. said; pres. part. saying) To speak; to express an opinion; to make answer; to reply. "You have said; but whether wisely or no, let the forest judge." "To this argument we shall soon have said; for what concerns it us to hear a husband divulge his household privacies?"

Say past obs.. Saw.

noun

Say n.

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." "Thy tongue some say of breeding breathes."

Tried quality; temper; proof. (Obs.) "He found a sword of better say."

Essay; trial; attempt. (Obs.)

To give a say at, to attempt.

Say n.

A kind of silk or satin. (Obs.) "Thou say, thou serge, nay, thou buckram lord!"

A delicate kind of serge, or woolen cloth. (Obs.) "His garment neither was of silk nor say."

Say n. 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." "That strange palmer's boding say, That fell so ominous and drear Full on the object of his fear."

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Etymology of 'Say'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Say" Quotes from Famous Books

... before leaving the table. But what about a place to sleep. For some inexplicable reason these people refuse to grant me even the shelter of their roof for the night. They are not keeping hotel, they say, which is quite true; they have a right to refuse, even if it is twenty miles to the next place; and they do refuse. "There's the empty Chinese bunk-house over there. You can crawl in there, if you arn't afeerd of ghosts," is the parting remark, as the door closes and leaves me standing, ...

— Around the World on a Bicycle V1 • Thomas Stevens

... here distinguished from the rest of the rhetoricians, is the celebrated Quintilian, of whose elegant taste and superior judgement it were superfluous to say a word. Martial has given his ...

— A Dialogue Concerning Oratory, Or The Causes Of Corrupt Eloquence • Cornelius Tacitus

... no fear," she replied in a low voice. "Yet—if you fail, may He forgive you as fully as I must forgive you. What shall I say to you on my ...

— The Long Night • Stanley Weyman

... General Stuart, to say that I am expecting a courier at any moment who may report that General Grant will move on Spottsylvania ...

— The Man in Gray • Thomas Dixon

... more to say. Surely this outline is sufficient. Only if any Composer does make use of this idea, and become famous thereby, let him not be ungrateful to the suggester of this brilliant notion (copyright), whose name and address may be had for the asking at the ...

— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 101, September 26, 1891 • Various

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