Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To speak in a formal, often pompous manner.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To make an oration; talk loftily; harangue.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To
speak formally; to give aspeech . - verb To speak
passionately ; topreach for or against something.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb talk pompously
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Sen. Obama, like many other politicians, uses teleprompters, so his great ability to orate is based mainly on his ability to read and not speak from the hip.
Obama addresses rumors head-on at pro-Israel conference 2008
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Nunzio told the defense attorney not to "orate" when making objections but to state his arguments, and he was irritated by Judge Alexander's aggressive behavior toward witnesses.
Harry T. Alexander, 85; controversial D.C. judge, defense lawyer 2010
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Certainly, those who were wont to "orate" in the building when it stood in Brompton would have failed to recognise the edifice as it arose in
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Rather than orate alone in front of a camera, McDonnell took refuge in the Virginia House of [...]
Matthew Yglesias » Bob McDonnell To Attempt First Non-Horrible SOTU Response in American History 2010
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The fact that individual reporters would still have rights to distribute homemade handbills or orate from a soapbox would mean little.
Kent Greenfield: Why Progressives Should Oppose A Constitutional Amendment to End Corporate "Personhood" Kent Greenfield 2012
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When pressed to orate—as in his farewell toast to his officers or when he returned his sword to Congress after the Revolutionary War—Washington uttered some fine phrases, but he didn't give a single speech to the Continental Congresses.
The Original American Idol John R. Miller 2011
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Yes, I have been to half a dozen of their meetings, but that doesn't make me a socialist any more than hearing Charley Hapgood orate made me
Chapter 29 2010
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Requiring those filibustering to stand before cameras and orate gives them the opportunity for viewers of C-Span, Twitter, and the like to let the whole world see how brilliant they are.
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For decades, senators who wanted to filibuster had to actually orate in the Senate chamber.
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For decades, senators who wanted to filibuster had to actually orate in the Senate chamber.
Filibuster Threat? Start Talking Naftali Bendavid 2010
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