English

Verb

speechify ‎(third-person singular simple present speechifies, present participle speechifying, simple past and past participle speechified)

1. (intransitive) To give a speech; to hold forth, to pronounce at length.
   • 1871–72, George Eliot, Middlemarch, Chapter 56

     Caleb was a powerful man and knew little of any fear except the fear of hurting others and the fear of having to speechify.

   • 1985, Lawrence Durrell, Quinx, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p. 1351:

     He never missed a chance of speechifying in public.

2. (transitive) To make speeches to (someone); to address in a speech.
   • 1864, Charles Dickens, "Mrs. Lirriper's Legacy," ch. 2:

     They take their little enjoyments on little means and with little things and don't let solemn big-wigs stare them out of countenance or speechify them dull.

Derived terms

• speechifying