See Also: VERBAL(law)
pre-verbal(dictionary)
verbal(dictionary)
VERBAL PROCESS(law)
VERBAL NOTE(law)
verbal 2, noun(dictionary)
verbal 1, adjective(dictionary)
proces-verbal(dictionary)
verbal learning(medicine)
verbal behaviour(medicine)

verbal (iou)



verbal adjective, noun, & verb. L15.
[Old & mod. French, or late Latin verbalis, from Latin verbum: see VERB, -AL1.]
A. adjective.
a. Of a person: dealing with or using words, esp. rather than things or realities. L15.
She Alcoholic parents; verbal abusers; and sexual abusers.
b. Using many words; talkative, verbose; articulate. E17.
Sara Maitland He was ebullient, excitable, verbal, and passionate.
Of or pertaining to words; consisting or composed of words; of the nature of a word. M16.
verbal action: see ACTION noun. verbal adjective an adjective formed from a verb, though not necessarily constituting an inflection, and usu. closely related to it in meaning. verbal conditioning Psychology the reinforcing of certain verbal responses with the object of establishing the use of particular words or ways of speaking. verbal diarrhoea colloq. a tendency to talk too much, extreme verbosity. verbal INSPIRATION.
P. Ackroyd He had a remarkable memory, both verbal and visual. Guardian Children's verbal and reasoning skills. D. Highsmith Punished with slaps, missed meals or verbal assaults.
Grammar. Of, pertaining to, or derived from a verb; of the nature of a verb. M16.
verbal noun Grammar a noun formed as an inflection of a verb and partly sharing its constructions.
W. D. Whitney The plural verbal inflection.
Expressed or conveyed by speech rather than writing; oral. L16.
B. T. Washington A written or a verbal request from their parents.
Concerned with, consisting of, or involving words only rather than things or realities. E17.
B. Jowett Opposition between these two modes of speaking is rather verbal than real.
Corresponding word for word; literal. E17.
F. W. Farrar The sacred writers never aim at verbal accuracy in their quotations.
b. noun.
Grammar.
a. A deverbal noun or other part of speech. arch. M16.
b. A word or phrase functioning as a verb. M20.
A verbal statement, esp. a damaging admission, alleged to have been made by a suspected criminal and offered as evidence by the prosecution. slang. M20.
sing. & (usu.) in pl. Insults, abuse, invective. slang. L20.
In pl. Words spoken or sung; esp. the words of a song; the dialogue of a film. colloq. L20.
C. verb trans. Infl. -ll-, *-l-. Attribute a damaging admission to (a suspected criminal). colloq. M20.
verbalism noun (a) a verbal expression, a word; (b) predominance of or concentration on the merely verbal over reality or meaning; minute attention to words, verbal criticism: L18.
verbalist noun (a) a person dealing in or concentrating on mere words rather than reality or meaning; (b) a person skilled in the use or knowledge of words: E17.
verba'listic adjective of, pertaining to, or characterized by verbalism M20.
verba'listically adverb M20.
ver'bality noun (a) the quality of being merely verbal, that consisting of mere words; (b) in pl., verbal expressions or phrases: M17.
verbally adverb L16.