as in spoke up
to voice one's opinions freely with force
it's a free country, so anyone can speak out
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Recent Examples of spoke out
North College Hill Council Member Kathy Cureton spoke out about the incident.
—
Allie Hennard, Cincinnati Enquirer, 20 Feb. 2026
The show's tribute comes on the same day that Dempsey spoke out about the loss of his longtime costar.
—Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 20 Feb. 2026
Residents also spoke out against the action.
—Natalia Jaramillo, The Orlando Sentinel, 19 Feb. 2026
The Human Artistry Campaign, a coalition of artists’ rights groups affiliated with the Hollywood unions, also spoke out against the AI model on Friday.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 13 Feb. 2026
Shofner held a press conference ahead of the meeting and, along with other activists and the family members of Jalin Seabron, spoke out against a resolution committing county support to Douglas County Sheriff's deputies who have been sued for their actions while working.
—Olivia Young, CBS News, 11 Feb. 2026
More recently, the mayor spoke out against the county’s plan to cut $200 million in homeless services.
—David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2026
Francis also spoke out frequently a bout the positive values of teamwork and camaraderie in sport, especially for young people, and during his pontificate the Holy See began fielding track and cycling athletes in international competitions as team Atletica Vaticana.
—Nicole Winfield, Chicago Tribune, 6 Feb. 2026
The net grew wider as the politicized Justice Department targeted city and state public officials who spoke out.
—Kica Matos, Time, 30 Jan. 2026
Allie Hennard, Cincinnati Enquirer, 20 Feb. 2026
The show's tribute comes on the same day that Dempsey spoke out about the loss of his longtime costar.
—Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 20 Feb. 2026
Residents also spoke out against the action.
—Natalia Jaramillo, The Orlando Sentinel, 19 Feb. 2026
The Human Artistry Campaign, a coalition of artists’ rights groups affiliated with the Hollywood unions, also spoke out against the AI model on Friday.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 13 Feb. 2026
Shofner held a press conference ahead of the meeting and, along with other activists and the family members of Jalin Seabron, spoke out against a resolution committing county support to Douglas County Sheriff's deputies who have been sued for their actions while working.
—Olivia Young, CBS News, 11 Feb. 2026
More recently, the mayor spoke out against the county’s plan to cut $200 million in homeless services.
—David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2026
Francis also spoke out frequently a bout the positive values of teamwork and camaraderie in sport, especially for young people, and during his pontificate the Holy See began fielding track and cycling athletes in international competitions as team Atletica Vaticana.
—Nicole Winfield, Chicago Tribune, 6 Feb. 2026
The net grew wider as the politicized Justice Department targeted city and state public officials who spoke out.
—Kica Matos, Time, 30 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spoke out
Verb
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Not long after, the boy who had participated in teasing his classmates spoke up and asked for accountability, Shenker said.—
Erick Trevino,
AZCentral.com,
18 Feb. 2026
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What followed was not chaos, but something more deliberate—a narrowing of what could be said publicly, to punish those who spoke up, and to quietly erase stories that needed to be told.—
Adrianne Wright,
Fortune,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
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In November, LaVine had an altercation with a Kings season ticket holder who shouted angrily at him during a timeout, criticizing his effort and defense in a viral video moment.—
Jason Anderson,
Sacbee.com,
14 Feb. 2026
-
Boris Pistorius, Germany’s defense minister, shouted from the audience at the time.—
Kim Hjelmgaard,
USA Today,
14 Feb. 2026
Verb
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On Thursday, Aaron Boone talked up Winquest’s big arm after the 25-year-old threw a bullpen.—
Gary Phillips,
New York Daily News,
13 Feb. 2026
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Taneja also talked up the investment in xAI, noting that Grok, the chatbot made by xAI, was already in use across Tesla’s fleet.—
Jessica Mathews,
Fortune,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Family members of the shooting victims cried as the sentence was handed down.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
14 Feb. 2026
-
The teenager cried that morning.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The next day, standing below the balcony of the Lorraine Motel where the team was staying in Memphis, King yelled down at Jackson in joviality, as if to mitigate the outburst, inviting him to dinner.—
Johanna Neuman,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Feb. 2026
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Maintain a standard Jalen yelled at me a few times for not getting my eyes on coach Jay Wright.—
Jayson Jenks,
New York Times,
17 Feb. 2026
Verb
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When the crowd got a chance to ask questions, a rancher piped up.—
Elise Schmelzer,
Denver Post,
24 Nov. 2025
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Republican Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz piped up in defense of Kimmel’s right to free speech without governmental interference.—
Sarah Stankorb,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Mayor Mamdani on Friday sounded off against ICE and issued an executive order aimed at putting an exclamation on point on the city’s existing sanctuary policies.—
Josephine Stratman,
New York Daily News,
6 Feb. 2026
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And months after its debut in October, Blue Bloods star Tom Selleck sounded off about the potential of him returning to his role of Frank Reagan.—
Brenton Blanchet,
PEOPLE,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
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His agency, also called Wasserman, has lost clients over the Maxwell emails.—
Teresa Liu,
Daily News,
17 Feb. 2026
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Jackson was hospitalized in November and later diagnosed with a degenerative condition called progressive supranuclear palsy, CBS News reported.—
Mabinty Quarshie,
The Washington Examiner,
17 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Spoke out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spoke%20out. Accessed 23 Feb. 2026.
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