Definition of "speaking" []

• Capable of speech. (adjective)
• Involving speaking or talking: has a speaking part in the play. (adjective)
• Expressive or telling; eloquent. (adjective)
• True to life; lifelike: a speaking likeness. (adjective)
• On speaking terms Friendly enough to exchange superficial remarks: We're on speaking terms with the new neighbors. (idiom)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The Organization of Labor "-- [_Left speaking_, says our reporter.]" Left speaking: "alas, that he should have to" speak "so much!"
• "My difficulty in speaking is to know what you would like to know about my profession as a nautical man."
• "She began immediately to make sounds which she called speaking, and I saw the necessity of correct instruction, since her heart was set upon learning to talk; and, feeling my own incompetence to teach her, never having given the subject of articulation serious study, I went with my pupil for advice and assistance, to Miss Sarah Fuller."