oral

[awr-uh l, ohr-]

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.

Origin of oral

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

Related formso·ral·i·ty, nouno·ral·ly, adverbnon·o·ral, adjectivenon·o·ral·ly, adverbpost·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

Contemporary Examples of 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
“He was attempting to force me into oral sex,” Ruehli told Philadelphia Magazine.
Bill Cosby’s Long List of Accusers (So Far): 18 Alleged Sexual Assault Victims Between 1965-2004
Marlow Stern
November 24, 2014
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
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
These new developments are all the more positive when you take into account the dark history of the MPAA and oral sex.
Oral Sex Comes of Age in Hollywood: ‘Gone Girl’ the Latest Film to Showcase Female Pleasure
Marlow Stern
October 4, 2014

Historical Examples of oral

He had made them, written and oral, and had only been laughed at for a half-crazy explorer.
Loot of the Void
Edwin K. Sloat
Oral fossa: in Mallophaga, a furrow lying in front of the mandibles.
Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology
John. B. Smith
Will men say, 'The later the ballad, the more it is altered in oral tradition'?
The Valet's Tragedy and Other Stories
Andrew Lang
That is the type of oral lesson which is most common at the present day.
What Is and What Might Be
Edmond Holmes
Several of us had formed a class for oral instruction in French.
Lights and Shadows in Confederate Prisons
Homer B. Sprague

British Dictionary definitions for oral

oral

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

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.

Medicine definitions for oral

oral

[ôr′əl]

adj.

Of or relating to the mouth.

Used in or taken through the mouth.

Of or relating to the first stage of psychosexual development in psychoanalytic theory, in which the mouth is the focus of exploration and pleasure.

Related formso′ral•ly adv.

Science definitions for oral

oral

[ôr′əl]

Relating to or involving the mouth.

oral

adjective

noun

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Origin of oral

Usage note

Examples from the Web for oral

Contemporary Examples of oral

Historical Examples of oral

oral

adjective

noun

Word Origin for oral

oral

adj.

oral