English Expressions, Idioms & Phrasal Verbs | Meanings, Examples & Usage
to express one's opinion openly about a topic
"Experts speak up on the importance of cross-cultural dialogue."
to talk kindly or appreciatively about someone
"Everyone speaks warmly of her generosity and kindness."
to praise someone or talk positively about them
"Everyone speaks well of the teacher who inspired them."
to have a conversation with someone
"I need to speak with you about tomorrow’s presentation."
to talk confidently and convincingly
"He spoke with assurance during his presentation."
to say exactly what you think
"Don't be afraid to speak your mind."
stating one’s personal opinion only, not others’
"Speaking for myself, I think we should wait."
Expressing one’s personal view or opinion
"Speaking personally, I wouldn’t take that risk."
to go faster; to increase speed
"You need to speed up if you want to overtake that car."
to explain something clearly and in detail
"Could you spell out what you mean by that term?"
to spend money freely or wastefully
"She spends money like water on clothes."
to reveal a secret
"She accidentally spilled the beans about the surprise party."
to share gossip or secrets
"Come on, spill the tea - what happened at the party?"
to tell someone all your private feelings or secrets
"After a few drinks, he started to spill his guts about his failed marriage."
To present a story in a way that is intended to influence people's opinions or beliefs.
"The journalist managed to spin a story that made the politician look like a hero."
a person who gives a favorable interpretation of events to the media
"The politician hired a spin doctor to handle the press."
to develop from something and become a separate project
"Our AI pilot might spin off into a full analytics product."
to lose control and start spinning around
"The car spun out on the wet highway."
To present information in a biased or manipulative way
"The politician tried to spin the story to his advantage."
to present a situation in a way that benefits a particular perspective
"The politician tried to spin the truth about the scandal to protect his reputation."
to start something quickly, especially a system
"The IT team can spin up a test server in minutes."
to prepare systems or resources to handle something
"We spin up for big launches by testing backup servers early."
to create a new independent company from a larger organization
"The corporation plans to spin off its research division as a separate entity."
someone who looks exactly like another person
"She is the spitting image of her mother."
to spend a lot of money on something special
"She splashed out on a designer handbag for her birthday."
a decision where people are divided in opinion
"The committee made a split decision on the proposal."
to argue about small or unimportant details
"Stop splitting hairs and focus on the main issue."
having two very different sides to one's character
"He’s got a split personality—sometimes kind, sometimes cruel."
to share earnings or gains equally or based on agreement
"They decided to split profits with their local partners."
a very short amount of time
"The decision was made in a split second."
to do something revolutionary or extremely difficult
"Creating a universal AI is like trying to split the atom of intelligence."
to agree on a compromise between two opinions or prices
"Let’s split the difference and meet halfway."
to separate or end a relationship or marriage
"John and Mary split up last month."
to divide work among people in a group
"Let’s split up tasks so everyone knows what to do."
a decision made very quickly without much thought
"The pilot had to make a split-second decision to avoid the crash."
to highlight positive steps that have been made
"We spotlight progress in standups so hope stays alive."
to extend over a large area or among many people
"The global supply chain spreads across several continents."
to share information to make people more conscious about something
"The NGO works hard to spread awareness about climate change."
to share knowledge or information so more people understand an issue
"Schools help spread awareness of environmental protection."
to make others happy by being kind or cheerful
"It's important to spread joy wherever you go."
to do or say things that make others feel cared for
"Let’s spread kindness wherever we go."
to spread kindness rapidly and uncontrollably
"Her acts of kindness spread like wildfire in the community."
To become widely known very quickly.
"The news of their engagement spread like wildfire."
to extend over a large area; to reach many people
"The news spread out quickly across social media."
to diversify investments to reduce risk
"It's wise to spread out investment across different sectors."
to distribute across a certain time or area
"The costs will be spread over the next three months."
to make others happy with your positivity
"Her smile always spreads sunshine wherever she goes."
to show kindness and affection to others
"She always tries to spread the love by helping others."
to tell many people about something
"Please spread the word about our new course."
to extend or move through an area or group
"Global culture has spread through digital media and communication networks."