oral

[awr-uhl]

adjective

1. uttered by the mouth; spoken.

   oral testimony.

2. of, using, or transmitted by speech.

   oral methods of language teaching; oral traditions.

3. of, relating to, or involving the mouth.

   the oral cavity.

4. done, taken, or administered through the mouth.

   an oral dose of medicine.

5. Phonetics.,  articulated with none of the voice issuing through the nose, as the normal English vowels and the consonants b and v.

6. Psychoanalysis.

   1. of or relating to the earliest phase of infantile psychosexual development, lasting from birth to one year of age or longer, during which pleasure is obtained from eating, sucking, and biting.

   2. of or relating to the sublimation of feelings experienced during the oral stage of childhood.

      oral anxiety.

   3. of or relating to gratification by stimulation of the lips or membranes of the mouth, as in sucking, eating, or talking

7. Zoology.,  pertaining to that surface of polyps and marine animals that contains the mouth and tentacles.

noun

1. an oral examination in a school, college, or university, given especially to a candidate for an advanced degree.

oral

/ ˈɒrəl, ˈɔːrəl /

adjective

1. spoken or verbal

   an oral agreement

2. relating to, affecting, or for use in the mouth

   an oral thermometer

3. of or relating to the surface of an animal, such as a jellyfish, on which the mouth is situated

4. denoting a drug to be taken by mouth Compare parenteral

   an oral contraceptive

5. of, relating to, or using spoken words

6. phonetics pronounced with the soft palate in a raised position completely closing the nasal cavity and allowing air to pass out only through the mouth

7. psychoanal

   1. relating to a stage of psychosexual development during which the child's interest is concentrated on the mouth

   2. denoting personality traits, such as dependence, selfishness, and aggression, resulting from fixation at the oral stage Compare anal genital phallic

noun

1. an examination in which the questions and answers are spoken rather than written

oral

1. Relating to or involving the mouth.

Usage

See verbal.

Other Word Forms

• orality noun
• orally adverb
• nonoral adjective
• postoral adjective
• suboral adjective
• unoral adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of oral¹

First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin ōr- (stem of ōs ) “mouth” (cognate with Sanskrit āsya ) + -al ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of oral¹

C17: from Late Latin orālis, from Latin ōs face

Example Sentences

It is understood that the summary proceedings were issued on 28 April, just shy of two weeks after the article was published, with an oral hearing held in June.

Read more on BBC

The book is ostensibly “authored” by McCartney even though it is an oral history that has been edited by Ted Widmer, an estimable historian and a former speechwriter for Bill Clinton.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The drug giant also highlighted the progress it has made with its oral obesity and diabetes treatment orforglipron, which produced positive results from four late-stage trials.

Read more on MarketWatch

The inflated number was repeatedly cited in oral arguments before the 9th Circuit and more than a dozen times in the court’s Oct.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Even so, the findings add to a growing body of research suggesting that maintaining oral health could play a larger role in protecting the brain than previously recognized.

Read more on Science Daily