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oral

 - 7 dictionary results

o⋅ral

  [awr-uhl, ohr-]
Use oral in a Sentence
–adjective
1. uttered by the mouth; spoken: oral testimony.
2. of, using, or transmitted by speech: oral methods of language teaching; oral traditions.
3. of, pertaining to, or involving the mouth: the oral cavity.
4. done, taken, or administered through the mouth: an oral dose of medicine.
5. Phonetics. articulated with none of the voice issuing through the nose, as the normal English vowels and the consonants b and v.
6. Psychoanalysis.
a. of or pertaining 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.
b. of or pertaining to the sublimation of feelings experienced during the oral stage of childhood: oral anxiety.
c. of or pertaining to gratification by stimulation of the lips or membranes of the mouth, as in sucking, eating, or talking
7. Zoology. pertaining to that surface of polyps and marine animals that contains the mouth and tentacles.
–noun
8. an oral examination in a school, college, or university, given esp. to a candidate for an advanced degree.
Origin:
1615–25; < L ōr- (s. of ōs) mouth (c. Skt āsya) + -al 1

Related forms:
o⋅ral⋅i⋅ty, noun
o⋅ral⋅ly, adverb

Usage note:
1. See verbal.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To oral
o·ral   (ôr'əl, ōr'-)   
adj.  

  1. Spoken rather than written. See Usage Note at verbal.

  2. Of or relating to the mouth: oral surgery.

  3. Used in or taken through the mouth: an oral thermometer; an oral vaccine.

  4. Consisting of or using speech: oral instruction.

  5. Linguistics Articulated through the mouth only, with the nasal passages closed.

  6. Psychology Of or relating to the first stage of psychosexual development in psychoanalytic theory, from birth to about 18 months, during which the mouth is the chief focus of exploration and pleasure. The oral stage is followed by the anal stage.

n.  An academic examination in which questions and answers are spoken rather than written. Often used in the plural.

[Late Latin ōrālis, from Latin ōs, ōr-, mouth; see ōs- in Indo-European roots.]
o'ral·ly adv.
O·ral   (ôr'əl)   
A city of northwest Kazakhstan on the Ural River south-southwest of Samara, Russia. Founded by Cossacks c. 1622, it is a processing and manufacturing center. Population: 196,000.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

oral 
1625, from L.L. oralis, from L. os (gen. oris) "mouth, opening, face, entrance," from PIE *os-/*ous- "mouth" (cf. Skt. asan "mouth," asyam "mouth, opening," Avestan ah-, Hittite aish, M.Ir. a "mouth," O.N. oss "mouth of a river," O.E. 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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: oral
Pronunciation: 'Or-&l, 'or-, 'är-
Function: adjective
1 a : of, relating to, or involving the mouth : BUCCAL oral mucous membrane> b : given or taken through or by way of the mouth oralvaccine> oral suspension of a drug> c : acting on the mouth <oral diseases>
2 : emphasizing lipreading and the development ofvocal expression in teaching the deaf —compare MANUAL
3 a : of, relating to, or characterized by thefirst stage of psychosexual development in psychoanalytic theory during which libidinal gratification is derived from intake (as of food), by sucking, and later by biting b : of,relating to, or characterized by personality traits of passive dependence and aggressiveness —compare ANAL 2 GENITAL 3 PHALLIC 2 —oral·i·ty /o-'ral-&t-E, O-/ noun plural -ties
—oral·ly adverb
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

oral o·ral (ôr'əl)
adj.

  1. Of or relating to the mouth.

  2. Used in or taken through the mouth.

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

o'ral·ly adv.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Encyclopedia

Oral

city, western Kazakhstan, along the Ural (Zhayyq) River. Founded in 1613 or 1622 by Cossacks fleeing a tsarist punitive campaign, it was known as Yaitsky Gorodok until 1775, when its name was changed following the Pugachov Rebellion. The town was a centre of both the Stenka Razin (1667) and Yemelyan Pugachov (1773) uprisings and was the headquarters of the Ural Cossacks. It had a lively trade with European Russia in fish from the Ural River and livestock products from the Kazakh steppes. Its commercial importance began to decline in the early 20th century when the new railway to Turkistan bypassed it. Oral's industries today include leather and footwear, meatpacking, flour milling, some engineering, and a licorice works. The city has teacher-training and agricultural institutes, the oldest theatre in Kazakhstan, and a museum with historic Cossack mementos

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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