SPEAKER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Speaker mean? 

• SPEAKER (noun)
  The noun SPEAKER has 3 senses:

1. someone who expresses in language; someone who talks (especially someone who delivers a public speech or someone especially garrulous)

2. electro-acoustic transducer that converts electrical signals into sounds loud enough to be heard at a distance

3. the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly

  Familiarity information: SPEAKER used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SPEAKER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Someone who expresses in language; someone who talks (especially someone who delivers a public speech or someone especially garrulous)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

speaker; talker; utterer; verbaliser; verbalizer

Context example:

an utterer of useful maxims

Hypernyms ("speaker" is a kind of...):

articulator (someone who pronounces words)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "speaker"):

narrator; storyteller; teller (someone who tells a story)

informant; witness; witnesser (someone who sees an event and reports what happened)

orator; public speaker; rhetorician; speechifier; speechmaker (a person who delivers a speech or oration)

prattler (someone who speaks in a childish way)

ranter; raver (someone who rants and raves; speaks in a violent or loud manner)

reciter (someone who recites from memory)

native speaker (a speaker of a particular language who has spoken that language since earliest childhood)

stammerer; stutterer (someone who speaks with involuntary pauses and repetitions)

stentor (a speaker with an unusually loud voice)

talking head (a talker on television who talks directly into the cameras and whose upper body is all that is shown on the screen)

venter (a speaker who expresses or gives vent to a personal opinion or grievance)

vociferator (a loud and vehement speaker (usually in protest))

voicer (a speaker who voices an opinion)

wailer (a mourner who utters long loud high-pitched cries)

whisperer (one who speaks in a whisper)

mumbler; murmurer; mutterer (a person who speaks softly and indistinctly)

motormouth (someone who talks incessantly)

mentioner (a speaker who refers to something briefly or incidentally)

lisper (a speaker who lisps)

lecturer (someone who lectures professionally)

asker; enquirer; inquirer; querier; questioner (someone who asks a question)

growler (a speaker whose voice sounds like a growl)

ejaculator (a speaker who utters a sudden exclamation)

driveller; jabberer (someone whose talk is trivial drivel)

drawler (someone who speaks with a drawl)

dictator (a speaker who dictates to a secretary or a recording machine)

conversationalist; conversationist; schmoozer (someone skilled at conversation)

babbler; chatterbox; chatterer; magpie; prater; spouter (an obnoxious and foolish and loquacious talker)

caller; caller-up; phoner; telephoner (the person initiating a telephone call)

alliterator (a speaker or writer who makes use of alliteration)

Derivation:

speak (express in speech)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Electro-acoustic transducer that converts electrical signals into sounds loud enough to be heard at a distance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

loudspeaker; loudspeaker system; speaker; speaker system; speaker unit

Hypernyms ("speaker" is a kind of...):

electro-acoustic transducer (a transducer that converts electrical to acoustic energy or vice versa)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "speaker"):

intercom speaker; squawk box; squawker (the loudspeaker on an intercom or public address system)

subwoofer (a loudspeaker that is designed to reproduce very low bass frequencies)

tannoy (a loudspeaker)

tweeter (a loudspeaker that reproduces higher audio frequency sounds)

woofer (a loudspeaker that reproduces lower audio frequency sounds)

bullhorn; loud-hailer; loud hailer (a portable loudspeaker with built-in microphone and amplifier)

Holonyms ("speaker" is a part of...):

P.A.; P.A. system; PA; PA system; public address system (an electronic amplification system used as a communication system in public areas)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The presiding officer of a deliberative assembly

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

the leader of the majority party is the Speaker of the House of Representatives

Hypernyms ("Speaker" is a kind of...):

presiding officer (the leader of a group meeting)

Derivation:

speakership (the position of Speaker)

 Context examples 

Some strayed from the point, but most of the speakers replied directly to Martin.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

To this address, my aunt had listened with the closest attention, sitting perfectly upright, with her hands folded on one knee, and looking grimly on the speaker.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Someone who mediates between speakers of different languages.

(Interpreter, NCI Thesaurus)

“Seven, you jack-fool,” growled the first speaker, and his bow twanged like a harp-string.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Some agreed with the last speaker and some were against him, so that a brisk argument was being carried on around me.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A short speech, but the quiet decision with which it was uttered contrasted curiously with the young speaker.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

At last I looked up at the tardy speaker: he was looking eagerly at me.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Sir Thomas did not quite understand this, and looked with some surprise at the speaker.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

A device with sound speakers designed to be worn on the head in proximity to the ears.

(Headphone Device Component, NCI Thesaurus)

The little red warriors hung upon the words of the speaker, and when he had finished they burst into a roar of applause, waving their rude weapons in the air.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)