say

say
    n 1: the chance to speak; "let him have his say"
    v 1: express in words; "He said that he wanted to marry her";
         "tell me what is bothering you"; "state your opinion";
         "state your name" [syn: {state}, {say}, {tell}]
    2: report or maintain; "He alleged that he was the victim of a
       crime"; "He said it was too late to intervene in the war";
       "The registrar says that I owe the school money" [syn:
       {allege}, {aver}, {say}]
    3: express a supposition; "Let us say that he did not tell the
       truth"; "Let's say you had a lot of money--what would you
       do?" [syn: {suppose}, {say}]
    4: have or contain a certain wording or form; "The passage reads
       as follows"; "What does the law say?" [syn: {read}, {say}]
    5: give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with
       authority; "I said to him to go home"; "She ordered him to do
       the shopping"; "The mother told the child to get dressed"
       [syn: {order}, {tell}, {enjoin}, {say}]
    6: speak, pronounce, or utter in a certain way; "She pronounces
       French words in a funny way"; "I cannot say `zip wire'"; "Can
       the child sound out this complicated word?" [syn:
       {pronounce}, {articulate}, {enounce}, {sound out},
       {enunciate}, {say}]
    7: communicate or express nonverbally; "What does this painting
       say?"; "Did his face say anything about how he felt?"
    8: utter aloud; "She said `Hello' to everyone in the office"
    9: state as one's opinion or judgement; declare; "I say let's
       forget this whole business"
    10: recite or repeat a fixed text; "Say grace"; "She said her
        `Hail Mary'"
    11: indicate; "The clock says noon"
    

Say \Say\ (s[=a]), obs. imp. of {See}.
   Saw. --Chaucer.
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Say \Say\ (s[=a]), n. [Aphetic form of assay.]
   1. Trial by sample; assay; sample; specimen; smack. [Obs.]
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            If those principal works of God . . . be but certain
            tastes and says, as it were, of that final benefit.
                                                  --Hooker.
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            Thy tongue some say of breeding breathes. --Shak.
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   2. Tried quality; temper; proof. [Obs.]
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            He found a sword of better say.       --Spenser.
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   3. Essay; trial; attempt. [Obs.]
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   {To give a say at}, to attempt. --B. Jonson.
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Say \Say\, v. t.
   To try; to assay. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.
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Say \Say\, n. [OE. saie, F. saie, fr. L. saga, equiv. to sagum,
   sagus, a coarse woolen mantle; cf. Gr. sa`gos. See {Sagum}.]
   1. A kind of silk or satin. [Obs.]
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            Thou say, thou serge, nay, thou buckram lord!
                                                  --Shak.
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   2. A delicate kind of serge, or woolen cloth. [Obs.]
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            His garment neither was of silk nor say. --Spenser.
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Say \Say\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Said} (s[e^]d), contracted from
   sayed; p. pr. & vb. n. {Saying}.] [OE. seggen, seyen, siggen,
   sayen, sayn, AS. secgan; akin to OS. seggian, D. zeggen, LG.
   seggen, OHG. sag[=e]n, G. sagen, Icel. segja, Sw. s[aum]ga,
   Dan. sige, Lith. sakyti; cf. OL. insece tell, relate, Gr.
   'e`nnepe (for 'en-sepe), 'e`spete. Cf. {Saga}, {Saw} a
   saying.]
   1. To utter or express in words; to tell; to speak; to
      declare; as, he said many wise things.
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            Arise, and say how thou camest here.  --Shak.
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   2. To repeat; to rehearse; to recite; to pronounce; as, to
      say a lesson.
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            Of my instruction hast thou nothing bated
            In what thou hadst to say?            --Shak.
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            After which shall be said or sung the following
            hymn.                                 --Bk. of Com.
                                                  Prayer.
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   3. To announce as a decision or opinion; to state positively;
      to assert; hence, to form an opinion upon; to be sure
      about; to be determined in mind as to.
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            But what it is, hard is to say.       --Milton.
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   4. To mention or suggest as an estimate, hypothesis, or
      approximation; hence, to suppose; -- in the imperative,
      followed sometimes by the subjunctive; as, he had, say
      fifty thousand dollars; the fox had run, say ten miles.
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            Say, for nonpayment that the debt should double,
            Is twenty hundred kisses such a trouble? --Shak.
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   {It is said}, or {They say}, it is commonly reported; it is
      rumored; people assert or maintain.

   {That is to say}, that is; in other words; otherwise.
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Say \Say\, v. i.
   To speak; to express an opinion; to make answer; to reply.
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         You have said; but whether wisely or no, let the forest
         judge.                                   --Shak.
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         To this argument we shall soon have said; for what
         concerns it us to hear a husband divulge his household
         privacies?                               --Milton.
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Say \Say\, n. [From {Say}, v. t.; cf. {Saw} a saying.]
   A speech; something said; an expression of opinion; a current
   story; a maxim or proverb. [Archaic or Colloq.]
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         He no sooner said out his say, but up rises a cunning
         snap.                                    --L'Estrange.
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         That strange palmer's boding say,
         That fell so ominous and drear
         Full on the object of his fear.          --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.
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say
 vt.

   1. To type to a terminal. "To list a directory verbosely, you have to
   say ls -l." Tends to imply a {newline}-terminated command (a
   `sentence').

   2. A computer may also be said to `say' things to you, even if it
   doesn't have a speech synthesizer, by displaying them on a terminal in
   response to your commands. Hackers find it odd that this usage
   confuses {mundane}s.
    

say

   A human may "say" things to a computer by typing them on a
   terminal.  "To list a directory verbosely, say "ls -l"."
   Tends to imply a {newline}-terminated command (a "sentence").

   A computer may "say" things to you, even if it doesn't have a
   speech synthesiser, by displaying them on a terminal in
   response to your commands.  This usage often confuses
   {mundanes}.

   [{Jargon File}]
    

436 Moby Thesaurus words for "say":
      Australian ballot, Hare system, Parthian shot, about,
      absolute power, absolutism, acknowledge, acme, address, affirm,
      affirmance, affirmation, after-dinner speech, allegation, allege,
      allocution, almost, animadvert, announce, announcement, annunciate,
      annunciation, answer, answer back, apostrophe, approximately,
      approximatively, argue, articulate, ascendancy, assert, assertion,
      assever, asseverate, asseveration, assume, authority,
      authorization, aver, averment, avouch, avouchment, avow, avowal,
      aye, ballot, be afraid, be-all and end-all, believe, blue ribbon,
      bout, break silence, breathe, bring out, canvass, canvassing,
      casting vote, chalk talk, championship, chance, charisma, charm,
      chime, chime in, choice, chorus, cite, clout, come back,
      come out with, command, comment, communicate, competence,
      competency, conceive, conclude, conclusion, consequence, consider,
      constituted authority, contend, control, convey, counting heads,
      crack, credit, creed, cumulative voting, daresay, debate,
      deciding vote, decision, declamation, declaration, declare, deduce,
      deem, delegated authority, deliver, diatribe, dictum, directorship,
      disclose, discretion, divine, divine right, division, dominance,
      domination, dominion, dream, echo, effect, effectiveness, eminence,
      emit, enchantment, enfranchisement, enunciate, enunciation, esteem,
      eulogy, exclamation, exhortation, expect, express, expression,
      faculty, fagot vote, fancy, favor, feel, filibuster, first place,
      first prize, flash back, fling off, for practical purposes, force,
      forensic, forensic address, formal speech, formulate, franchise,
      free choice, free decision, free will, full consent,
      funeral oration, gather, generally, generally speaking, give,
      give acknowledgment, give answer, give expression, give out with,
      give tongue, give utterance, give voice, go, good feeling, grant,
      graveyard vote, greeting, hand vote, harangue, have, headship,
      hegemony, height, highest, hold, hortatory address, imagine,
      impart, imperium, importance, in round numbers, inaugural,
      inaugural address, incidental power, indicate, indirect authority,
      infer, influence, influentiality, inherent authority, inning,
      innings, insinuation, insist, interjection, invective, ipse dixit,
      issue a manifesto, jeremiad, jurisdiction, jus divinum, just,
      kingship, lawful authority, lay down, leadership, legal authority,
      legitimacy, let, let be, let out, leverage, lip, list system,
      lordship, magnetism, maintain, management, manifesto, mark,
      mastership, mastery, maximum, mention, moment, more or less, most,
      nay, ne plus ultra, new high, no, noncontingent free will,
      nontransferable vote, note, observation, opine, opportunity,
      option, oration, out with, palms, paramountcy, pep talk,
      peroration, personality, persuasion, philippic, phonate, phrase,
      pipe up, pitch, place, plebiscite, plebiscitum, plumper,
      plural vote, poll, polling, position, position paper,
      positive declaration, potency, pour forth, power, practically,
      predicate, predication, predominance, preferential voting,
      prefigure, prepared speech, prepared text, preponderance,
      prerogative, present, presidency, pressure, prestige, presume,
      presuppose, presurmise, primacy, proclaim, proclamation, profess,
      profession, pronounce, pronouncement, proportional representation,
      proposition, protest, protestation, provisionally accept, proxy,
      public speech, purchase, put, put forth, put in words, put it,
      question, quote, raise, react, read, reading, recital, recitation,
      recite, reckon, record, record vote, reecho, referendum,
      reflection, regality, register, reign, rejoin, relief, remark,
      repeat, reply, representation, repute, respond, retort, return,
      return answer, return for answer, reverberate, right,
      right to vote, rightful authority, riposte, rising vote, roughly,
      roughly speaking, round, roundly, royal prerogative, rule,
      sales talk, salutatory, salutatory address, say in reply, say out,
      say-so, saying, screed, secret ballot, sentence, set down,
      set forth, set speech, shoot back, show of hands, single vote,
      snap vote, sound, sovereignty, speak, speak out, speak up, speech,
      speechification, speeching, spell, stance, stand, stand for,
      stand on, state, statement, straw vote, suasion, subjoinder,
      submit, subtle influence, suffrage, suggestion, suppose, supremacy,
      surmise, suspect, sway, take, take for, take for granted, take it,
      take the floor, take to be, talk, talk back, talkathon, tell,
      the say, the say-so, think, thought, throw off, throw out, time,
      time at bat, tirade, top spot, transferable vote, turn, understand,
      upper hand, utter, utterance, valediction, valedictory,
      valedictory address, verbalize, vested authority,
      vicarious authority, viva voce, vocalize, voice, voice vote, vote,
      voting, voting right, vouch, weight, whack, whip hand, whisper,
      word, write-in, write-in vote, yea, yeas and nays, yes, zenith