labial — English Dictionary

Adjective

1. Of or pertaining to the lips or labia.

   Usage

   • not-comparable

   Synonyms

   cheilo-

   Examples

   The wound that does not kill Christ is the magical labial wound; it is the seal of the resurrection and an expression of the myth of eternal recurrence.

2. Articulated by the lips, as the consonants b, m and w.

   Usage

   • not-comparable

3. On the side facing the lips. See mesial.

   Usage

   • not-comparable
   • of an incisor or canine

4. Furnished with lips.

   Usage

   • not-comparable

   Examples

   a labial organ pipe

Noun

1. A consonant articulated by the lips.

   Examples

   More examples (2)

   The motions of the Tongue, Lips, Throat, Palate, & c. which go to the making of the ſeveral Alphabetical Letters are worthy inquiry, and pertinent to the preſent Inquiſition of Sounds: But becauſe they are ſubtil and long to deſcribe, we will refer them over, and place them amongſt the Experiments of Speech. The Hebrews have been diligent in it, and have aſſigned which Letters are Labial, which Dental, which Guttural, & c

   You have but the same four letters to describe the salute which you perform on your grandmother’s forehead, and that which you bestow on the sacred cheek of your mistress; but the same four letters, and not one of them a labial.

   Those were his first words of the voyage, and they were spoken with unstuttered labials.

2. An organ pipe having a lip that influences its sound.

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   All organ pipes are divided into two general classes, labial and lingual pipes. The main difference between the two classes is the manner by which the vibrations producing the sound are caused. In labial pipes the column of air entering the pipe under pressure is set in vibration by a fixed obstruction at the mount of the pipe. […] [T]he obstruction at the mouth […] causes the column of air to vibrate. In the lingual or reed pipe, the vibrations are caused by the air passing through a metal reed, which causes the tongue of the reed to vibrate, thereby setting up sympathetic vibrations in the column of air in the pipe.

3. Any of the scales bordering the mouth opening of a reptile.

Adjective

1. of or relating to the lips of the mouth

   Examples

   labial stops

2. relating to or near the female labium

Noun

1. a consonant whose articulation involves movement of the lips

   Synonyms

   labial consonant

   Broader terms

   consonant