say
//seɪ//
Forms
- present (v1)
- say
- past (v2)
- said
- past participle (v3)
- said
- present participle
- saying
- 3rd person singular
- says
- Plural
- says
Definitions
1.To pronounce.
- Please say your name slowly and clearly.
2.To recite.
- Martha, will you say the Pledge of Allegiance?
3.To tell, either verbally or in writing.
- He said he would be here tomorrow.
- I want to say I’m sorry for yesterday., It’s okay, Anna.
- ‘All right,’ said Jessamy. ‘I say, Miss Brindle said she’d think about you coming to see the house some time. I said I was sure you weren’t the stone throwing kind, not at windows, I mean.’
4.To indicate in a written form.
- What time does it say on the clock?
- The sign says it’s 50 kilometres to Paris.
1.A chance to speak; the right or power to influence or make a decision.
- Above all, however, we would like to think that there is more to be decided, after the engines and after the humans have had their says.
- He has consolidated the military's role in politics through an army-drafted 2017 constitution widely seen as designed to prevent Pheu Thai from returning to power and ensuring a continuing say for the army.
- Sunday’s general election has been cast as a high-stakes contest between democracy and military rule, but critics say a new army-backed constitution gives junta-appointed officials a large say in the next government.
2.A type of fine cloth similar to serge.
1.For example; let us assume.
- Pick a color you think they'd like, say, peach.
- He was driving pretty fast, say, fifty miles per hour.
- He was a very old man, and was heavy, say about 250 pounds.
1.Used to gain someone's attention before making an inquiry or suggestion(colloquial)
- Say, what did you think about the movie?
Frequency
Overall
Very common· #26
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Common
- General reading & writing
- Very common
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Common
Related words
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English saien, sain, san, secgan, segen, seien, sein, seiȝen, sugen, sægen, ziggen, from Old English seċġan, secgean, secggan, secggean, seggan, sæċġan (“to say, speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *saggjan, from Proto-Germanic *sagjaną (“to say”), from Proto-Indo-European *sokʷ-h₁-yé-, a suffixed o-grade form of *sekʷ- (“to say”).