speak up
Britishverb
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to speak more loudly
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to state one's beliefs, objections, etc, bravely and firmly
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Also, speak out . Talk loudly, so as to be heard, as in Speak up, child, I can't hear you , or He should speak out so that those in back can hear him . The first term dates from the early 1700s, the variant from the early 1500s.
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Also, speak up for . Express one's opinion or one's support for someone or something. For example, When it comes to speaking up about the town's needs, you can rely on Mary , or I'm glad you spoke up for me in that meeting . [c. 1700]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
After winning their award for best group, Wolf Alice's singer Ellie Roswell spoke up for small independent artists and venues, noting that 30 pubs and clubs had closed in the last year.
From BBC
Even though he knew that it had only been him who pulled the very heavy toboggan, he didn’t feel able to speak up.
From Literature
Then he spoke up and said, “I guess I’ll just take all of them.”
From Literature
“I know about her spinning,” I spoke up again, dancing around the questions I most wanted to ask.
From Literature
She was afraid of what might happen to family members "now that I'm speaking up".
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
