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vocalize

[voh-kuh-lahyz]
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verb (used with object), vo·cal·ized, vo·cal·iz·ing.
  1. to make vocal; utter; articulate; sing.
  2. to endow with a voice; cause to utter.
  3. Phonetics.
    1. to voice.
    2. to change into a vowel (contrasted with consonantalize).
  4. (of Hebrew, Arabic, and other writing systems that do not usually indicate vowels) to furnish with vowels or vowel points.
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verb (used without object), vo·cal·ized, vo·cal·iz·ing.
  1. to use the voice, as in speech or song.
  2. to sing without uttering words, especially to warm up the voice, practice vowel sounds, etc., before a performance.
  3. to sing scales, arpeggios, trills, or the like, usually to a solmization syllable or a vowel sound.
  4. Phonetics. to become changed into a vowel.
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Also especially British, vo·cal·ise.

Origin of vocalize

First recorded in 1660–70; vocal + -ize
Related formsvo·cal·i·za·tion, nounvo·cal·iz·er, nounmis·vo·cal·i·za·tion, nounnon·vo·cal·i·za·tion, nounsub·vo·cal·ize, verb, sub·vo·cal·ized, sub·vo·cal·iz·ing.un·vo·cal·ized, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

ventpronouncesaycroonconveyutterspeakmoanverbalizeshoutimpartgroanexpresscommunicateenunciatewarblechirpsingsoundchant

Examples from the Web for vocalize

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Vocalize always upon A, and be careful to put no B's before it.

  • Amos Adams threw back his grizzled head in a laugh that failed to vocalize.

    In the Heart of a Fool

    William Allen White

  • Her voice cracked; her ear became demoralized; her attempts to vocalize grew almost as comical as Trilby's.

    Trilby

    George Du Maurier

  • We have all heard voices that were so beautiful that to hear one of them vocalize for half an hour would be a musical feast.

  • Minnehaha is one of those fearless singers who vocalize without a safety-valve.

British Dictionary definitions for vocalize

vocalize

vocalise

verb
  1. to express with or use the voice; articulate (a speech, song, etc)
  2. (tr) to make vocal or articulate
  3. (tr) phonetics
    1. to articulate (a speech sound) with voice
    2. to change (a consonant) into a vowel
  4. another word for vowelize
  5. (intr) to sing a melody on a vowel, etc
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Derived Formsvocalization or vocalisation, nounvocalizer or vocaliser, noun
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 vocalize

v.

1660s, from vocal + -ize. Related: Vocalized; vocalizing.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper