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voice definition

voice (vo̵is)

noun

  1. sound made through the mouth, esp. by human beings in talking, singing, etc.
  2. the ability to make sounds orally or to speak, sing, etc. to lose one's voice
    1. any sound regarded as like vocal utterance the voice of the sea
    2. anything regarded as like vocal utterance in communicating to the mind the voice of one's conscience
  4. a specified condition, quality, or tone of vocal sound an angry voice
  5. the characteristic speech sounds normally made by a particular person to recognize someone's voice over the phone
    1. an expressed wish, choice, opinion, etc. the voice of the people
    2. the right to express one's wish, choice, opinion, etc., or to make it prevail; vote to have a voice in one's government
  7. utterance or expression giving voice to his joy
  8. the person or other agency by which something is expressed or made known a newspaper known to be the voice of the administration
  9. Gram.
    1. a characteristic of verbs, expressed in some languages by inflection, indicating the relation of the subject to the action of the verb either as agent (active voice), recipient (passive voice), or both, as in reflexives (middle voice); also, an analytic category based on this characteristic
    2. any of the forms a verb takes to indicate this characteristic
  10. Music
    1. musical sound made with the mouth; singing
    2. the quality of a particular person's singing a good voice
    3. a singer
    4. any of the individual parts sung or played together in a musical composition
  11. Phonet. sound made by vibration of the vocal cords with air forced from the lungs, as in the articulation of all vowels and such consonants as (b), (d), (g), and (m)

Etymology: ME < OFr vois < L vox (gen. vocis), a voice < IE base *wekw-, to speak > Sans vákti, (he) speaks, Gr ossa, ōps, voice, OE woma, noise

transitive verb voiced, voicing voic′·ing

  1. to give utterance or expression to; utter or express in words
  2. Music
    1. to regulate the tone of (organ pipes, etc.)
    2. to arrange (notes of a chord) or distribute notes to (instruments) so as to achieve a particular harmonic sound
  3. Phonet. to utter with voice

Related Forms:

voice Idioms

in voice

with the voice in good condition, as for singing

with one voice

unanimously

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

idioms voice idiom

medical voice definition - medical

telecom voice definition - telecom

voice Synonyms

voice

n.

  1. A vocal sound

    speech, sound, call, cry, utterance, tongue, whistle, moan, groan, song, yell, hail, howl, yowl, bark, whine, whimper, mutter, murmur, shout, bleat, bray, neigh, whinny, roar, trumpet, cluck, honk, meow, hiss, quack; see also noise 1.

    Antonyms silence*, dumbness, deaf-mutism.

  2. Approval or opinion

    decision, wish, view; see choice 1, opinion 1.

with one voice

all together, by unanimous vote, without dissent; see unanimously.


voice

v.

assert, cry, sound, utter; see talk 1, tell 1. See syn. study at utter.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

voice Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • hear: Scott could hear strange voices coming from rooms nearby.

Adjective modifier

  • loud: Many shouted, others wept with a loud voice.

Modifies a noun

  • recorder: Wireless on/off and voice recorder buttons are located on the side of the device, along with a handy locking switch.

Noun used with modifier

  • singing: Who knew Reese had such a nice singing voice?

Preposition: in

  • wilderness: Initiated by Voices in the Wilderness, the Iraq Peace Team ( IPT ) exists to stand in solidarity with the peoples of Iraq.

Preposition: of

  • dissent: I often feel I'm the only voice of dissent.

Preposition: from

  • heaven: The voice from heaven confirmed the apostles ' interpretation of the inspired prophets.
voice usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

voice quotes

In Reason's ear they all rejoice, And utter forth a glorious voice, For ever singing, as they shine: 'The hand that made us is divine.'

-Addison,Joseph

   Nec audiendi qui solent dicere, vox populi, vox Dei, quum tumultuositas vulgi semper insaniae proxima sit. We should not listen to those who like to affirm that the voice of the people is the voice of God, for the tumult of the masses is truly close to madness.

-Alcuin

Poetry is music written for the human voice.

-Angelou, Maya originally MayaJohnson

voice quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"voice." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/voice>

APA Style

voice. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/voice

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