> as lemmas

1688 G. Miege Great French Dict. ii. sig. Rrr3/2 This Book is a great Help both for the speaking and the reading part.

1751 tr. Female Foundling II. 47 Immediately I went down into the Speaking-room [= parlour].

1852 C. A. Bristed Five Years Eng. University (ed. 2) 289 And our acquaintance with the tongue of Dante never became, to borrow a very old Joe Miller, a speaking acquaintance.

1858 R. W. Emerson Eloquence in Atlantic Monthly Sept. 385/1 The eloquence of one stimulates all the rest, some up to the speaking point.

1860 G. J. Adler tr. C. C. Fauriel Hist. Provençal Poetry x. 216 Rudiger has already arrived within speaking distance of the enemy.

1870 O. Logan Before Footlights iii. 37 By and by I got into ‘speaking parts’, such as the Duke of York in Richard the Third.

1879 Law Rep.: Appeal Cases 4 40 If the Court of Quarter Sessions stated upon the face of the order, by way of recital, that the facts were so and so, and the grounds of its decision were such as were so stated, then the order became upon the face of it, a speaking order.

1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. III. 355 Graduated and methodical speaking exercises.

1908 E. Terry Story of my Life xiv. 355 Melba..had a bad cold, and therefore a frightful speaking voice for the moment.

1924 W. Holtby Crowded Street xxxvi. 270 Delia..departed northwards on a speaking tour.

1931 F. L. Allen Only Yesterday ii. 32 He would win them to his cause, making a speaking trip through the West.

1944 N. Streatfeild Curtain Up viii. 99 Mime..she loved. Then there were her speaking parts.

1973 ‘E. McBain’ Hail to Chief vi. 109 I have a speaking engagement... I'm talking at a women's college.

1977 Rolling Stone 5 May 15/4 White, a big man with a rich, resonant speaking voice which turned into a tough growl when he sang.

1978 M. Dickens Open Bk. xix. 173 On this speaking tour, my engagements fell roughly into two main categories.

1979 Ld. Denning Discipline of Law ii. i. 66 It was possible to extend it to include not only the order of the Tribunal itself—when it was a ‘speaking order’—but in addition all the documents properly before the Tribunal and considered by them.