VOCALIZE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does vocalize mean? 

• VOCALIZE (verb)
  The verb VOCALIZE has 5 senses:

1. utter with vibrating vocal chords

2. sing (each note a scale or in a melody) with the same vowel

3. pronounce as a vowel

4. express or state clearly

5. utter speech sounds

  Familiarity information: VOCALIZE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• VOCALIZE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they vocalize    ... he / she / it vocalizes   
Past simple: vocalized   
Past participle: vocalized   
-ing form: vocalizing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Utter with vibrating vocal chords

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

sound; vocalise; vocalize; voice

Hypernyms (to "vocalize" is one way to...):

articulate; enounce; enunciate; pronounce; say; sound out (speak, pronounce, or utter in a certain way)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "vocalize"):

chirk (make a shrill creaking, squeaking, or noise, as of a door, mouse, or bird)

quaver; waver (give off unsteady sounds, alternating in amplitude or frequency)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

vocalization (the sound made by the vibration of vocal folds modified by the resonance of the vocal tract)

vocalizer (a person who sings)

vocalizer (an organism that can utter vocal sounds)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Sing (each note a scale or in a melody) with the same vowel

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

vocalise; vocalize

Hypernyms (to "vocalize" is one way to...):

sing (produce tones with the voice)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Sentence examples:

Sam and Sue vocalize
They will vocalize the duet

Derivation:

vocal (relating to or designed for or using the singing voice)

vocalizer (a person who sings)

vocalizing (the act of singing vocal music)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Pronounce as a vowel

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

vocalise; vocalize; vowelise; vowelize

Context example:

between two consonants, this liquid is vowelized

Hypernyms (to "vocalize" is one way to...):

articulate; enounce; enunciate; pronounce; say; sound out (speak, pronounce, or utter in a certain way)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue vocalize

Sense 4

Meaning:

Express or state clearly

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

articulate; enunciate; vocalise; vocalize

Hypernyms (to "vocalize" is one way to...):

say; state; tell (express in words)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Utter speech sounds

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

phonate; vocalise; vocalize

Hypernyms (to "vocalize" is one way to...):

mouth; speak; talk; utter; verbalise; verbalize (express in speech)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

vocal (having or using the power to produce speech or sound)

vocalization (the use of uttered sounds for auditory communication)

vocalizer (an organism that can utter vocal sounds)

 Context examples 

The researchers found that, just as for vocalized speech, simply imagining making a sound reduced the brain activity that occurred when people simultaneously heard that sound.

(Talking to Ourselves And Voices in Our Heads, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Instructional activity designed to teach patients how to vocalize with a non-functioning or absent larynx.

(Alaryngeal Speech, NCI Thesaurus)