ORAL. Something spoken in contradistinction to something written; as oral evidence, which is evidence delivered verbally by a witness,

Source: Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
 

Oral \O"ral\, a. [L. os, oris, the mouth, akin to Skr. [=a]s. Cf. Adore, Orison, Usher.]

1. Uttered by the mouth, or in words; spoken, not written; verbal; as, oral traditions; oral testimony; oral law. [1913 Webster]

2. Of or pertaining to the mouth; surrounding or lining the mouth; as, the oral cavity; oral cilia or cirri. [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

97 Moby Thesaurus words for "oral": acknowledged, admitted, answering, articulate, articulated, audition, blue book, communicating, communicational, communional, conventional, conversational, customary, enunciated, established, exam, examen, examination, final, final examination, fixed, folk, great go, hallowed, handed down, hearing, heroic, hoary, honors, immemorial, interacting, interactional, interactive, intercommunicational, intercommunicative, intercommunional, interresponsive, interrogative, interrogatory, inveterate, legendary, lingual, linguistic, long-established, long-standing, mandibular, maxillary, midsemester, midterm, mouthlike, mythological, nuncupative, of long standing, of the folk, oral examination, orificial, parol, prelim, prescriptive, pronounced, questioning, quiz, received, recognized, responsive, rooted, said, sonant, sounded, speech, spoken, take-home examination, telepathic, test, time-honored, told, traditional, transmissional, trial, tried and true, tripos, true-blue, understood, unwritten, uttered, venerable, verbal, viva, viva voce, vocal, vocalized, voiced, voiceful, word-of-mouth, worshipful, written, written examination

Source: Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
 

oral adj
1: using speech rather than writing; "an oral tradition"; "an oral agreement" [syn: unwritten]
2: of or relating to or affecting or for use in the mouth; "oral hygiene"; "an oral thermometer"; "an oral vaccine"
3: of or involving the mouth or mouth region or the surface on which the mouth is located; "the oral cavity"; "the oral mucous membrane"; "the oral surface of a starfish" [ant: aboral]
4: a stage in psychosexual development when the child's interest is concentrated in the mouth; fixation at this stage is said to result in dependence, selfishness, and aggression [ant: anal]

noun

an examination conducted by word of mouth [syn: oral exam, oral examination, viva voce, viva]

Source: WordNet (r) 2.0
 

Oral \O"ral\, a. [L. os, oris, the mouth, akin to Skr. [=a]s. Cf. Adore, Orison, Usher.]

1. Uttered by the mouth, or in words; spoken, not written; verbal; as, oral traditions; oral testimony; oral law.

2. Of or pertaining to the mouth; surrounding or lining the mouth; as, oral cilia or cirri.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)