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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

to speak of en · X

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic, negative, usually) Sufficient; important or significant enough to be worth mentioning.
    • Completely disorientated by the explosion of dust, it was only now she realised she was running through Tina’s flat. It was even grottier than Zoe’s. There was no furniture or carpet to speak of. 2012, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Ratburger, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:
    • While he spoke thus, the good man leaped with joy; and as he was a widower, they advised him to put himself agian to the ranks. 'No raillery,' said he, 'if I were always as young, I might yet do something to speak of. 1792, Jean François Marmontel, C. Dennis, Robert Lloyd, Moral Tales By M. Marmontel Translated From the French by C. Dennis and R. Lloyd, page 130:
    • no [X] to speak of
    • Q: How many people heeded the advice to bring an umbrella? A: Not enough to speak of.
    • not enough to speak of
    • But some have no parents, or none to speak of, and are living with a grandmother or uncle or married sister or sister who's not married but has three tots of her own to look after, or this unruly student's helping her to take care of them with babysitting or a paying after-school job. 2013, Stephen Dixon, 30 Pieces of a Novel, →ISBN:
    • There was no air conditioning to speak of. [ = There was some, but it was wholly inadequate.]
    • There were no tall buildings to speak of, certainly nothing in the way of skyscrapers, no brownstones […] 1980, Charlotte Vale Allen, Promises, page 79:

Relateds

speaking of · speak of

Translations (5)

pl but see za bardzo (Translations) · fr digne de ce nom (Translations) · nl noemenswaardig (Translations) · nl vermeldenswaardig (Translations) · fr digne d'être mentionné (Translations)