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.
See Examples For:
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
Small amounts of saliva are also secreted by the labial glands in the lips.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
Its enlarged labial scales have fused to form beak-like structures, reinforced with sequestered metals, used in cropping herbs and grasses.
From Scientific American ● Apr. 1, 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
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
In Los Angeles, Hans Spangenberg, lover of labials, despiser of sibilants, asked court permission to change his name to Valcour Berne de Belair.
From Time Magazine Archive
Thus Bleek tells us that the tortoise changes clicks in labials, the ichneumon in palatals, the jackal substitutes linguo-palatals for labials, while the moon, hare, and ant-eater use "a most unpronounceable click" of their own.
From Man, Past and Present by Alfred Court Haddon
The Mohawk language is pronounced without opening and shutting the lips, labials being unknown.
From Canada and the Canadians, Vol. 2 by Richard Henry Bonnycastle
It is not so soft and sonorous as the Algonquin which abounds in labials, but more so than the Winnebago, which is the most harsh and guttural language in America.
From Great Indian Chief of the West Or, Life and Adventures of Black Hawk by Benjamin Drake
Both are males, and they have 175 and 180 ventrals, 88 and 89 caudals, 1 preocular, 2 postoculars, 1-2-3 temporals, 7 and 8 upper labials, 9 lower labials.
From Systematic Status of the Colubrid Snake, Leptodeira discolor Gunther by William E. Duellman
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.
