Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Relating to or using speech: Pertaining to spoken communication rather than written.
   • Relating to the mouth: Of, involving, or for use in the mouth.

2. Noun:

   • A spoken examination: A test or assessment conducted through spoken questions and answers.

Examples

• Adjective:

  • The professor gave an oral presentation instead of a written report.
  • Good oral hygiene includes brushing and flossing your teeth.
  • The tribe's history was preserved through oral tradition.

• Noun:

  • The final exam for the language class is an oral.
  • She was nervous about her French oral.

Advanced Usage

• In psychoanalysis: Refers to a stage of psychosexual development where interest is centered on the mouth.
  • Fixation at the oral stage might influence certain personality traits.
• In anatomy and medicine: Specifies location or administration via the mouth.
  • The vaccine is available as an oral dose.
  • The oral mucosa lines the inside of the cheeks.

Variants and Related Words

• Orally (adverb): By mouth; using speech.
  • The medicine is taken orally.
  • The agreement was made orally.

Synonyms

• Adjective (spoken): Verbal, spoken, vocal.
• Adjective (mouth): Buccal (specifically relating to the cheek or mouth cavity).

Related Phrases

• Oral history: The collection and study of historical information using tape recordings of interviews with people having personal knowledge of past events.
  • The project involved recording oral history from the town's oldest residents.
• Oral exam/assessment: A formal test where knowledge or proficiency is evaluated through conversation.
  • Preparing for an oral exam requires practicing speaking aloud.

Adjective

1. a stage in psychosexual development when the child's interest is concentrated in the mouth; fixation at this stage is said to result in dependence, selfishness, and aggression
2. of or involving the mouth or mouth region or the surface on which the mouth is located
   • the oral cavity
   • the oral mucous membrane
   • the oral surface of a starfish
3. of or relating to or affecting or for use in the mouth
   • oral hygiene
   • an oral thermometer
   • an oral vaccine
4. using speech rather than writing
   • an oral tradition
   • an oral agreement

Noun

1. an examination conducted by spoken communication