oral

[ awr-uh l, ohr- ]

/ ˈɔr əl, ˈoʊr- /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR oral ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

uttered by the mouth; spoken: oral testimony.

of, using, or transmitted by speech: oral methods of language teaching; oral traditions.

of, relating to, or involving the mouth: the oral cavity.

done, taken, or administered through the mouth: an oral dose of medicine.

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

Psychoanalysis.

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.
of or relating to the sublimation of feelings experienced during the oral stage of childhood: oral anxiety.
of or relating to gratification by stimulation of the lips or membranes of the mouth, as in sucking, eating, or talking

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

noun

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

Nearby words

Origin of oral

1615–25; < Latin ōr- (stem of ōs) mouth (cognate with Sanskrit āsya) + -al¹

Related forms

o·ral·i·ty, nouno·ral·ly, adverbnon·o·ral, adjectivenon·o·ral·ly, adverb

post·o·ral, adjectivesub·o·ral, adjectiveun·o·ral, adjectiveun·o·ral·ly, adverb

Can be confusedoral aural

Usage note

1. See verbal.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for oral

My doctor put me on oral contraceptives to induce a period, figuring it would help build bone.
You’re Never ‘Cured’ of an Eating Disorder|Carrie Arnold|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Also, when Nelson died and Hugh Morrow did his own oral history project and talked to about 75 Rockefeller associates.
This Republican Loved Taxes & Modern Art|Scott Porch|November 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
After his mother arrived, the questioning ended, but his oral admissions were admitted into testimony.
The Myth of the Central Park Five|Edward Conlon|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The first shot of his face is sort-of a peek-a-boo in between bouts of administering some, um, oral pleasure.
‘True Blood’ Star Ryan Kwanten Looks Back on Jason Stackhouse’s Craziest Scenes|Kevin Fallon|June 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST

I often wonder if I should have donated the triage tag to the museum or recorded my oral history for its collections.
How 9/11 Made Journalists Part of the Story|Allison Gilbert|May 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There is more or less effort to discredit books as educative tools and to lay emphasis on oral instruction and manual training.
A Librarian's Open Shelf|Arthur E. Bostwick
Oral speech, the highest form of the personal manifestation of mind, was also treated with great reverence by the ancients.
Pedagogics as a System|Karl Rosenkranz
It certainly will furnish excellent material for language work, oral or written.
American Leaders and Heroes|Wilbur Fisk Gordy
He has however particularly recorded Alfred's fondness for the oral Anglo-Saxon poems and songs.
Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, Volume I (of 3)|Thomas Percy
But not for social, not for any oral purposes were these languages essayed.
And Even Now|Max Beerbohm

British Dictionary definitions for oral

oral

/ (ˈɔːrəl, ˈɒrəl) /

adjective

spoken or verbalan oral agreement

relating to, affecting, or for use in the mouthan oral thermometer

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

denoting a drug to be taken by mouthan oral contraceptive Compare parenteral

of, relating to, or using spoken words

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

psychoanal

relating to a stage of psychosexual development during which the child's interest is concentrated on the mouth
denoting personality traits, such as dependence, selfishness, and aggression, resulting from fixation at the oral stageCompare anal (def. 2), genital (def. 2), phallic (def. 2)

noun

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

Derived Formsorally, adverb

Word Origin for oral

C17: from Late Latin orālis, from Latin ōs face

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 oral

oral

adj.

1620s, from Late Latin oralis, from Latin os (genitive oris) "mouth, opening, face, entrance," from PIE *os-/*ous- "mouth" (cf. Sanskrit asan "mouth," asyam "mouth, opening," Avestan ah-, Hittite aish, Middle Irish a "mouth," Old Norse oss "mouth of a river," Old English or "beginning, origin, front"). Psychological meaning "of the mouth as the focus of infantile sexual energy" (e.g. oral fixation) is from 1910. The sexual sense is first recorded 1948, in Kinsey. As a noun, "oral examination," attested from 1876. Related: Orally (c.1600); orality.