lipread

[lip-reed]

verb (used with object), lip·read

[lip-red] /ˈlɪpˌrɛd/, lip·read·ing [lip-ree-ding] /ˈlɪpˌri dɪŋ/.

to understand spoken words by interpreting the movements of a speaker's lips without hearing the sounds made.

verb (used without object), lip·read

[lip-red] /ˈlɪpˌrɛd/, lip·read·ing [lip-ree-ding] /ˈlɪpˌri dɪŋ/.

to use lipreading.

Compare speechread.

Origin of lipread

First recorded in 1890–95; lip + read¹

Related formslip·read·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for lip-read

Contemporary Examples of lip-read

This lip-read video clarifies what NFL football players, coaches and referees are actually talking about on the field.
Puppies, the Fresh Prince, the NRA and More Viral Videos
The Daily Beast
January 20, 2013
She camouflaged her disability by learning to lip-read in multiple languages.
12 Juicy Bits From the Prince Philip Biography
Tom Sykes
November 14, 2011

Historical Examples of lip-read

After a moment, the psychologist turned his head to the doctor and Bennington lip-read the word, "hypno."
Take the Reason Prisoner
John Joseph McGuire
They can gain knowledge by sight, he maintained; can write, converse by signs, speak and lip-read.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 10
Various
Mrs. Ambrose thought he was talking about domestic servants, because she had lip-read the word "cook."
The House by the River
A. P. Herbert

British Dictionary definitions for lip-read

lip-read

verb -reads, -reading or -read (-ˈrɛd)

to interpret (words) by lip-reading

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for lip-read

1880, back-formation from lip-reading, which is attested from 1852 in writings on educating deaf-mutes; from lip (n.) + reading.