Expressed in words, whether spoken or written, but commonly in spoken words; hence, spoken; oral; not written; as, a verbal contract; verbal testimony. Made she no verbal question Shak. We subjoin an engraving . . . which will give the reader a far better notion of the structure than any verbal description could convey to the mind. Mayhew.
Consisting in, or having to do with, words only; dealing with words rather than with the ideas intended to be conveyed; as, a verbal critic; a verbal change. And loses, though but verbal, his reward. Milton. Mere verbal refinements, instead of substantial knowledge. Whewell.
Having word answering to word; word for word; literal; as, a verbal translation.
Abounding with words; verbose. [Obs.] Shak.
Of or pertaining to a verb; as, a verbal group; derived directly from a verb; as, a verbal noun; used in forming verbs; as, a verbal prefix. Verbal inspiration. See under Inspiration. -- Verbal noun (Gram.), a noun derived directly from a verb or verb stem; a verbal. The term is specifically applied to infinitives, and nouns ending in -ing, esp. to the latter. See Gerund, and -ing, 2. See also, Infinitive mood, under Infinitive.
A noun derived from a verb.
98,828 entries. Headwords are matched first, then definition text.