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To practice singing on the vowel sounds.

f the kind or quality heard in speech or song in the consonants b, v, d, etc., and in the vowels; sonant, or intonated, utterance; tone; -- distinguished from mere breath sound as heard in f, s, sh, etc., and also whisper.

Consecrated by a vow or promise; consequent on a vow; devoted; promised. Votary resolution is made equipollent to custom. Bacon.

An ardent wish or desire; a vow; a prayer. [Obs.] Massinger.

One who makes a vow. [Obs.] Chapman.

Given by vow, or in fulfillment of a vow; consecrated by a vow; devoted; as, votive offerings; a votive tablet. "Votive incense." Keble. We reached a votive stone, that bears the name Of Aloys Reding. Wordsworth. Embellishments of flowers and votive garlands. Motley. Votive medal, a medal struck in grateful commemorati…

wenty-third letter of the English alphabet, is usually a consonant, but sometimes it is a vowel, forming the second element of certain diphthongs, as in few, how. It takes its written form and its name from the repetition of a V, this being the original form of the Roman capital letter which we call U. Etymologically i…

, and at the same time bring with him eleven neighbors (called compurgators), who should avow upon their oaths that they believed in their consciences that he spoke the truth. -- Wager policy. (Insurance Law) See under Policy.

turn aside from the true direction; to cause to bend or incline; to pervert. This first avowed, nor folly warped my mind. Dryden. I have no private considerations to warp me in this controversy. Addison. We are divested of all those passions which cloud the intellects, and warp the understandings, of men. Southey.…

To be considered as important; to have weight in the intellectual balance. Your vows to her and me . . . will even weigh. Shak. This objection ought to weigh with those whose reading is designed for much talk and little knowledge. Locke.

Made, as a vowel, with a less tense, and more open and relaxed, condition of the mouth organs; -- opposed to primary as used by Mr. Bell, and to narrow as used by Mr. Sweet. The effect, as explained by Mr. Bell, is due to the relaxation or tension of the pharynx; as explained by Mr. Sweet and others, it is due to the a…

al consonant; as a prefix, and usually in the middle or at the end of a syllable, it is a vowel. See Guide to Pronunciation, §§ 145, 178-9, 272.