1Spoken rather than written; verbal.

1. 1.1Relating to the transmission of information or literature by word of mouth.
   ‘oral literature’
   More example sentences

   • ‘a society with an oral tradition’
   • ‘Folk literature from the oral tradition to the printed word encompasses four major types: legends, myths, fables, and fairy tales.’
   • ‘Like the slaves, immersed from birth in an oral tradition, she sings the recipe to retain the words.’
   • ‘We often therefore speak of oral traditions, but the most important element in an oral tradition is not so much the spoken word as it is human memory.’
   • ‘But the oral tradition and literature aren't the same.’
   • ‘I think that it is perhaps true that it is only recorded in the magazine, but I think there has been an oral tradition that has kept it alive.’
   • ‘‘I grew up with this history as an oral tradition, as we all did,’ says Wilson.’
   • ‘Addressing themselves to village audiences and carrying on the tradition of oral literature, they use Tok Pisin exclusively and do not rely on scripts.’
   • ‘African radio stations have been important patrons of music and, in some countries, of poetry and oral literature.’
   • ‘As an oral tradition, Druidry does not anchor itself with scientific or historical facts; instead it breathes, shaping itself through stories ancient and modern.’
   • ‘African Americans relied on an oral tradition, unlike Euro-Americans whose expertise came from magazines and books.’
   • ‘Folktales also played a major role in oral literature and their subject matter ranged from love to heroism to supernatural acts.’
   • ‘The Asmat have a great deal of oral literature, but no written tradition.’
   • ‘The Mordvins have retained a rich body of oral literature and music, much of which was recorded in the Soviet era.’
   • ‘A body of oral literature is being assembled at the Office of Cultural Affairs and has been partially transcribed.’
   • ‘Parts of the early oral literature was recorded by M. Khorenatsi, a fourth-century historian.’
   • ‘The Dinka tradition of oral literature is extensive and a considerable amount has been recorded.’
   • ‘Chapter 1 surveys ancient oral literature, storytelling, and the novel.’
   • ‘The songs and poetry represent oral literature passed on to performers by their teachers.’
   • ‘The system had been used to record oral literature but had ultimately been abandoned.’
   • ‘The literary tradition in Equatorial Guinea is oral rather than written.’
2. 1.2(of a society) not having reached the stage of literacy.
   ‘Indeed, the effect of the Internet on a largely oral society like Sierra Leone will be profound.’
   More example sentences

   • ‘It is unfortunate that Inuit are an oral society, because this great knowledge is not being recognized or understood.’
   • ‘We face problems when our ingrained literacy is brought to oral cultures.’
   • ‘He studied authors from the past along with modernists like Joyce, Eliot, and Pound, remarking how increased literacy altered oral cultures like Homeric Greece.’
   • ‘Computational media can have the same fundamental impact on our individual lives and our societies as reading and writing had to move us from oral to literal societies.’
   • ‘Walter Ong has shown that the thinking processes for oral cultures are significantly different from those in societies where literacy has become widespread.’
   • ‘Missionaries also developed written forms of Pacific Islander languages that were previously nonexistent in the predominantly oral culture.’
   • ‘Basque Americans have been relatively slow to establish a literary tradition, in part because so much of their background was based on an oral culture.’
   • ‘Russia has always been primarily an oral culture in which a wide range of folkloric genres and traditions has flourished and provided the primary form of entertainment.’

2Relating to the mouth.

1. 2.1Done or taken by the mouth.
   ‘oral contraceptives’
   More example sentences

   • ‘Any woman who had ever been pregnant, had a positive pregnancy test, or used estrogen replacement therapy or oral contraceptives was excluded from the study.’
   • ‘Should oral contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy be discontinued before surgery?’
   • ‘There has been little input from the clinicians who prescribe oral contraceptives or from the women who use them.’
   • ‘Over 20 years he'd published more than 100 papers and reports on cardiovascular disease and the oral contraceptive.’
   • ‘The data do not suggest that use of oral contraceptives can interrupt an established pregnancy.’
   • ‘Accumulating side effects might lead women to switch their oral contraceptives.’
   • ‘Not every woman tolerates oral contraceptives as well as you do, but doctors frequently prescribe them for hard-to-treat acne.’
   • ‘Newer oral contraceptives, with lower levels of ovarian steroids, allow follicular growth, but ovulation usually does not occur.’
   • ‘Some medications (such as steroids or oral contraceptives) may also lead to hypertension.’
   • ‘In both cases, the depression responded to treatment with oral contraceptives.’
   • ‘Selected community pharmacists have made an NHS supply of oral emergency contraception available to 2000 women in the past year.’
   • ‘Limitations of this study include the low number of women using oral contraceptives.’
   • ‘Pharmacists who object to dispensing oral contraceptives on religious grounds might find it awkward to quiz a woman about the reason for the prescription.’
   • ‘They are essentially high dose oral contraceptives.’
   • ‘Currently, oral contraceptives cost an average of $25 to $30 per month by prescription.’
   • ‘If your blood pressure increases significantly, you may have to try a different oral contraceptive or switch to a different form of birth control.’
   • ‘The women in the study were 18 to 44 years of age, were ovulating normally, and were not taking oral contraceptives.’
   • ‘These young women were compared with 27 members of the cohort who had never used oral contraceptives by age 21.’
   • ‘Approximately 80 percent of U.S. women born since 1945 have used oral contraceptives.’
   • ‘For even lower doses, fluoxetine is also available as an oral solution and as a 10 mg capsule.’
2. 2.2Phonetics (of a speech sound) pronounced by the voice resonating in the mouth, as the vowels in English.
   Compare with nasal (sense 2 of the adjective)
   More example sentences

   • ‘12 vowels are distinguished; six oral vowels and six nasal vowels.’
3. 2.3Psychoanalysis (in Freudian theory) relating to or denoting a stage of infantile psychosexual development in which the mouth is the main source of pleasure and the centre of experience.
   ‘But the research evidence linking actual deprivation with the later development of oral behaviour or character is weak.’
   More example sentences

   • ‘This behavior ties directly into the oral fixation theories.’

A spoken examination or test.