# verbal

Pronunciation: say "VUR-buhl" US /ˈvɝ.bəl/, UK/AUS /ˈvɜː.bəl/

## Adjective

1. Communicated in speech rather than in writing; oral.
   - Simple: Spoken out loud instead of being written down.
   - _The landlord gave verbal permission for the repairs, which caused trouble later._
   - _His verbal promise meant little once the dispute reached court._
2. Relating to words, or to the use of words.
   - Simple: Having to do with words and how they are used.
   - _Children develop verbal ability rapidly in their first few years._
   - _The puzzle relied on verbal tricks rather than numbers._
3. Composed of words alone, without any other elements.
   - Simple: Made up of only words and nothing else.
   - _Their feud stayed verbal and never turned into anything physical._
   - _The protest was entirely verbal, expressed through chants and slogans._
4. Concerned with the wording of a text rather than its meaning or substance.
   - Simple: Focused on the exact words of a text, not its meaning.
   - _The editor's verbal corrections fixed phrasing without touching the central idea._
   - _Critics dismissed the review as a verbal exercise that ignored the book's themes._
5. Having the ability to speak and to produce words.
   - Simple: Able to speak and to use spoken words.
   - _The patient remained alert and verbal throughout the examination._
   - _Some birds are remarkably verbal, mimicking whole phrases._
6. Derived from a verb, or having the qualities of a verb.
   - Simple: Coming from a verb, or acting like a verb.
   - _Participles are verbal adjectives because they keep the meaning of the verbs they come from._
   - _The verbal force of a gerund lets it take a direct object._
7. Corresponding to the original word for word; exact rather than paraphrased.
   - Simple: Matching the original exactly, word for word.
   - _Scholars prefer a verbal rendering of the text, with no paraphrase._
   - _The clerk kept a verbal account of the proceedings, omitting nothing._
8. Used in forming verbs, as a suffix or other element does.
   - Simple: Used to turn another word into a verb.
   - _The verbal suffix '-ify' creates verbs like 'clarify' from adjectives._
   - _Many verbal endings let speakers form new verbs from nouns._

## Noun

9. A word formed from a verb that does not serve as a predicate, such as an infinitive, participle, or gerund.
   - Simple: A word made from a verb that does not act as the main verb, like a gerund.
   - _Each verbal in the passage came from a verb but acted as a noun or modifier._
   - _An infinitive is a verbal that can serve as the subject or object of a sentence._
10. Spoken language, especially when used to tease or scold someone. *(colloquial, Ireland, UK)*
   - Simple: Talk or speech, especially teasing or telling someone off.
   - _There was a lot of verbal between the two captains before kickoff._
   - _He copped some verbal from his mates over the missed penalty._
11. A confession made out loud to the police rather than in writing. *(Ireland, UK)*
   - Simple: A spoken confession that someone gives to the police.
   - _The defense argued that the verbal had never actually been given._
   - _Detectives claimed the suspect offered a full verbal during questioning._

## Verb

12. To allege, usually falsely, that someone made a spoken confession. *(Australia, British)*
   - Simple: To wrongly claim that someone has confessed out loud to the police.
   - _Officers were accused of conspiring to verbal the young man._
   - _The barrister claimed the police had verballed her client during the interview._

## Adjective

13. Full of excessive words; wordy and verbose. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Using far too many words and sounding long and wordy.

## Origin

From Old French verbal, from Late Latin verbālis meaning 'belonging to a word'. It is equivalent to verb plus the suffix -al.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/verbal (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).