Definition of: oral

(ô′rəl, ō′rəl) adjective
1. Uttered through the mouth; consisting of spoken words.
2. Pertaining to or situated at or near the mouth.
3. Psychoanal. a Of or relating to the earliest stage of psychosexual development of the child in which interest in and gratification from feeding, sucking, and biting are dominant. b Of, pertaining to, or characterized by qualities in the adult, as aggressiveness or gregariousness, regarded as typifying this stage of development. Compare ANAL, GENITAL.
4. Zool. Designating the side of the body on which the mouth is placed.
5. Of, pertaining to, or using speech.
6. Taken or administered by mouth.
7. Phonet. Pronounced through the mouth with the nasal passage closed; non–nasal: opposed to nasal. See synonyms under VERBAL.
—noun An oral examination, as in a college. [<L os, oris mouth]
—o′ral·ly adverb