vocalize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to make vocal; utter; articulate; sing.
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to endow with a voice; cause to utter.
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Phonetics.
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to voice.
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to change into a vowel (contrasted with consonantalize).
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(of Hebrew, Arabic, and other writing systems that do not usually indicate vowels) to furnish with vowels or vowel points.
verb (used without object)
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to use the voice, as in speech or song.
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to sing without uttering words, especially to warm up the voice, practice vowel sounds, etc., before a performance.
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to sing scales, arpeggios, trills, or the like, usually to a solmization syllable or a vowel sound.
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Phonetics. to become changed into a vowel.
verb
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to express with or use the voice; articulate (a speech, song, etc)
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(tr) to make vocal or articulate
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(tr) phonetics
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to articulate (a speech sound) with voice
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to change (a consonant) into a vowel
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another word for vowelize
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(intr) to sing a melody on a vowel, etc
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of vocalize
Explanation
When you speak, sing, or utter any kind of sound, you vocalize. A tiny baby can only vocalize gurgles and coos, but by the time she's three or four, she'll vocalize all kinds of opinions. Vocalize literally means to make a noise using your voice — in fact, vocalize is rooted in the Latin root word for "voice," vox. It's nearly a synonym for verbalize, "put into words," except that when you vocalize you may speak using words or you may merely make noises. So while your dog is smart enough to vocalize a response when you say, "Speak," he's still not smart enough to verbalize.
Vocabulary lists containing vocalize
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Vocalize always upon A, and be careful to put no B's before it.
From Harper's New Monthly Magazine No. XVI.?September, 1851?Vol. III. by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
