labial

American  

[ley-bee-uhl] / ˈleɪ bi əl /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or resembling a labium.

2. of or relating to the lips.

3. Phonetics. involving lip articulation, as p, v, m, w, or a rounded vowel.

4. 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.

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noun

Phonetics.

1. any labial consonant, especially a bilabial.

2. any labial sound.

labial British  

/ ˈleɪbɪəl /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or near lips or labia

2. music producing sounds by the action of an air stream over a narrow liplike fissure, as in a flue pipe of an organ

3. phonetics relating to a speech sound whose articulation involves movement or use of the lips

   a labial click

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noun

1. Also called: labial pipe.  music an organ pipe with a liplike fissure

2. phonetics a speech sound such as English p or m, whose articulation involves movement or use of the lips

Other Word Forms

• interlabial adjective
• labiality noun
• labially adverb
• postlabial adjective
• postlabially adverb
• prelabial adjective
• pseudolabial adjective
• sublabial adjective
• sublabially adverb

Etymology

Origin of labial

From the Medieval Latin word labiālis, dating back to 1585–95. See labium, -al ¹

Example Sentences

It’s like a clamshell that encases you in its labial folds.

From Los Angeles Times

It was a gift from my mum, who had read the searing details about my labial surgery.

From The Guardian

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 Literature

These are intended to relieve pressure on the affected area, but can backfire by redistributing the pressure to the sides and making the pain there even worse – in women this tends to cause labial numbness.

From The Guardian

At some point during my research, I found an estimate of the average labial size.

From Salon