labial
Americanadjective
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of, relating to, or resembling a labium.
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of or relating to the lips.
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Phonetics. involving lip articulation, as p, v, m, w, or a rounded vowel.
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Music. having the tones produced by the impact of a stream of air on a sharp liplike edge, as in a flute or the flue pipes of an organ.
adjective
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of, relating to, or near lips or labia
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music producing sounds by the action of an air stream over a narrow liplike fissure, as in a flue pipe of an organ
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phonetics relating to a speech sound whose articulation involves movement or use of the lips
a labial click
noun
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Also called: labial pipe. music an organ pipe with a liplike fissure
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phonetics a speech sound such as English p or m, whose articulation involves movement or use of the lips
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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labialitynoun
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interlabialadjective
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postlabialadjective
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prelabialadjective
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pseudolabialadjective
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sublabialadjective
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labiallyadverb
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postlabiallyadverb
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sublabiallyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of labial
From the Medieval Latin word labiālis, dating back to 1585–95. See labium, -al 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Small amounts of saliva are also secreted by the labial glands in the lips.
From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013
The labial frenulum is a midline fold of mucous membrane that attaches the inner surface of each lip to the gum.
From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013
It’s certainly difficult to imagine how they would be creating heavy wear on the labial sides of their teeth.
From Scientific American • Nov. 20, 2012
License plates from Poland, Hungary and the Soviet Union dot East Germany's sparsely traveled highways, and its famed spas and museums echo with the labial lilt of Slavic voices.
From Time Magazine Archive
But once you’ve gone this far, I must point out, with primary, secondary, auditory, olfactory, and labial hallucinations, as well as tactile and optical fantasies, it is pretty bad business.
From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
