Uttered by the mouth, or in words; spoken, not written; verbal; as, oral traditions; oral testimony; oral law. [1913 Webster]
Of or pertaining to the mouth; surrounding or lining the mouth; as, the oral cavity; oral cilia or cirri. [1913 Webster]

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OXFORD DICTIONARY

Oral, adj. & n.
--adj.
1 by word of mouth; spoken; not written (the oral tradition).
2 done or taken by the mouth (oral contraceptive).
3 of the mouth.
4 Psychol. of or concerning a supposed stage of infant emotional and sexual development, in which the mouth is of central interest.
--n. colloq. a spoken examination, test, etc.

Idiom

oral sex sexual activity in which the genitals of one partner are stimulated by the mouth of the other. oral society a society that has not reached the stage of literacy.

Derivative

orally adv.

Etymology

LL oralis f. L os oris mouth

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THESAURUS

Oral

acknowledged, admitted, answering, articulate, articulated, audition, blue book, communicating, communicational, communional, conventional, conversational, customary, enunciated, established, exam, examen, examination, final, final examination, fixed, folk, great go, hallowed, handed down, hearing, heroic, hoary, honors, immemorial, interacting, interactional, interactive, intercommunicational, intercommunicative, intercommunional, interresponsive, interrogative, interrogatory, inveterate, legendary, lingual, linguistic, long-established, long-standing, mandibular, maxillary, midsemester, midterm, mouthlike, mythological, nuncupative, of long standing, of the folk, oral examination, orificial, parol, prelim, prescriptive, pronounced, questioning, quiz, received, recognized, responsive, rooted, said, sonant, sounded, speech, spoken, take-home examination, telepathic, test, time-honored, told, traditional, transmissional, trial, tried and true, tripos, true-blue, understood, unwritten, uttered, venerable, verbal, viva, viva voce, vocal, vocalized, voiced, voiceful, word-of-mouth, worshipful, written, written examination

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ROGET THESAURUS

Oral

Voice

N voice, vocality, organ, lungs, bellows, good voice, fine voice, powerful voice, musical voice, intonation, tone of voice, vocalization, cry, strain, utterance, prolation, exclamation, ejaculation, vociferation, ecphonesis, enunciation, articulation, articulate sound, distinctness, clearness, of articulation, stage whisper, delivery, accent, accentuation, emphasis, stress, broad accent, strong accent, pure accent, native accent, foreign accent, pronunciation, homonym, orthoepy, cacoepy, euphony, gastriloquism, ventriloquism, ventriloquist, polyphonism, polyphonist, phonology, vocal, phonetic, oral, ejaculatory, articulate, distinct, stertorous, euphonious, how sweetly sounds the voice of a good woman, the organ of the soul, thy voice is a celestial melody.

Speech

N speech, faculty of speech, locution, talk, parlance, verbal intercourse, prolation, oral communication, word of mouth, parole, palaver, prattle, effusion, oration, recitation, delivery, say, speech, lecture, harangue, sermon, tirade, formal speech, peroration, speechifying, soliloquy, allocution, conversation, salutatory : screed: valedictory, oratory, elocution, eloquence, rhetoric, declamation, grandiloquence, multiloquence, burst of eloquence, facundity, flow of words, command of words, command of language, copia verborum, power of speech, gift of the gab, usus loquendi, speaker, spokesman, prolocutor, interlocutor, mouthpiece, Hermes, orator, oratrix, oratress, Demosthenes, Cicero, rhetorician, stump orator, platform orator, speechmaker, patterer, improvisatore, speaking, spoken, oral, lingual, phonetic, not written, unwritten, outspoken, eloquent, elocutionary, oratorical, rhetorical, declamatory, grandiloquent, talkative, Ciceronian, nuncupative, Tullian, orally, by word of mouth, viva voce, from the lips of, quoth he, said he, action is eloquence, pour the full tide of eloquence along, she speaks poignards and every word stabs, speech is but broken light upon the depth of the u, to try thy eloquence now 'tis time.

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