VOICE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does voice mean? 

• VOICE (noun)
  The noun VOICE has 11 senses:

1. the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech

2. the sound made by the vibration of vocal folds modified by the resonance of the vocal tract

3. a sound suggestive of a vocal utterance

4. expressing in coherent verbal form

5. a means or agency by which something is expressed or communicated

6. something suggestive of speech in being a medium of expression

7. (metonymy) a singer

8. an advocate who represents someone else's policy or purpose

9. the ability to speak

10. (linguistics) the grammatical relation (active or passive) of the grammatical subject of a verb to the action that the verb denotes

11. the melody carried by a particular voice or instrument in polyphonic music

  Familiarity information: VOICE used as a noun is familiar.

• VOICE (verb)
  The verb VOICE has 2 senses:

1. give voice to

2. utter with vibrating vocal chords

  Familiarity information: VOICE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• VOICE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

A shrill voice sounded behind us

Hypernyms ("voice" is a kind of...):

sound (the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "voice"):

androglossia (a woman's voice with male qualities)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The sound made by the vibration of vocal folds modified by the resonance of the vocal tract

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

phonation; vocalisation; vocalism; vocalization; voice; vox

Context example:

the giraffe cannot make any vocalizations

Hypernyms ("voice" is a kind of...):

communication (something that is communicated by or to or between people or groups)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "voice"):

singing voice (the musical quality of the voice while singing)

sprechgesang; sprechstimme (a style of dramatic vocalization between singing and speaking)

voice over (the voice on an unseen commentator in a film of television program)

Derivation:

voice (utter with vibrating vocal chords)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A sound suggestive of a vocal utterance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Context example:

the incessant voices of the artillery

Hypernyms ("voice" is a kind of...):

sound (the sudden occurrence of an audible event)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Expressing in coherent verbal form

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

articulation; voice

Context example:

I gave voice to my feelings

Hypernyms ("voice" is a kind of...):

expression; verbal expression; verbalism (the communication (in speech or writing) of your beliefs or opinions)

Derivation:

voice (give voice to)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A means or agency by which something is expressed or communicated

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

conservatism has many voices

Hypernyms ("voice" is a kind of...):

agency; means; way (thing or person that acts to produce a particular effect or achieve an end)

Derivation:

voice (give voice to)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Something suggestive of speech in being a medium of expression

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

he said his voices told him to do it

Hypernyms ("voice" is a kind of...):

communication (something that is communicated by or to or between people or groups)

Sense 7

Meaning:

(metonymy) a singer

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

he wanted to hear trained voices sing it

Hypernyms ("voice" is a kind of...):

singer; vocaliser; vocalist; vocalizer (a person who sings)

Domain category:

metonymy (substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself (as in 'they counted heads'))

Sense 8

Meaning:

An advocate who represents someone else's policy or purpose

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

interpreter; representative; spokesperson; voice

Context example:

the meeting was attended by spokespersons for all the major organs of government

Hypernyms ("voice" is a kind of...):

advocate; advocator; exponent; proponent (a person who pleads for a cause or propounds an idea)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "voice"):

ambassador (an informal representative)

bagman; commercial traveler; commercial traveller; roadman; traveling salesman; travelling salesman (a salesman who travels to call on customers)

spokeswoman (a female spokesperson)

spokesman (a male spokesperson)

mouth; mouthpiece (a spokesperson (as a lawyer))

flack; flack catcher; flak; flak catcher (a slick spokesperson who can turn any criticism to the advantage of their employer)

Sense 9

Meaning:

The ability to speak

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

he lost his voice

Hypernyms ("voice" is a kind of...):

physical ability (the ability to perform some physical act; contrasting with mental ability)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "voice"):

lung-power (the ability to speak loudly)

Derivation:

voice (utter with vibrating vocal chords)

Sense 10

Meaning:

(linguistics) the grammatical relation (active or passive) of the grammatical subject of a verb to the action that the verb denotes

Classified under:

Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

Hypernyms ("voice" is a kind of...):

grammatical relation (a linguistic relation established by grammar)

Domain category:

linguistics (the scientific study of language)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "voice"):

active; active voice (the voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is performing the action or causing the happening denoted by the verb)

passive; passive voice (the voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is the recipient (not the source) of the action denoted by the verb)

Sense 11

Meaning:

The melody carried by a particular voice or instrument in polyphonic music

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

part; voice

Context example:

he tried to sing the tenor part

Hypernyms ("voice" is a kind of...):

air; line; melodic line; melodic phrase; melody; strain; tune (a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "voice"):

primo (the principal part of a duet (especially a piano duet))

secondo (the second or lower part of a duet (especially a piano duet))

voice part (a part written for a singer)

accompaniment; backup; musical accompaniment; support (a musical part (vocal or instrumental) that supports or provides background for other musical parts)

bass; bass part (the lowest part in polyphonic music)

• VOICE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they voice    ... he / she / it voices   
Past simple: voiced   
Past participle: voiced   
-ing form: voicing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Give voice to

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

He voiced his concern

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

express; give tongue to; utter; verbalise; verbalize (articulate; either verbally or with a cry, shout, or noise)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

voice (a means or agency by which something is expressed or communicated)

voice (expressing in coherent verbal form)

voicer (a speaker who voices an opinion)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Utter with vibrating vocal chords

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

sound; vocalise; vocalize; voice

Hypernyms (to "voice" 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 "voice"):

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

Antonym:

devoice (utter with tense vocal chords)

Derivation:

voice (the ability to speak)

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

 Context examples 

"Can it be you, Jane?" she asked, in her own gentle voice.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Then Oz got into the basket and said to all the people in a loud voice: I am now going away to make a visit.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

At last, when she came to the youngest, a soft voice cried: “Dear mother, I am in the clock-case.”

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

As said earlier, you are an idea person, but the time is not quite right for you to voice them.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

"Question!" boomed the voice once more.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A little later he found it extremely painful to swallow and all but lost his voice.

(Blocking A Sneeze, Man Ruptures Throat, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

We all hear voices in our heads.

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

An operation to remove part of the larynx (voice box).

(Partial laryngectomy, NCI Dictionary)

Her sympathy was ours; her smile, her soft voice, the sweet glance of her celestial eyes, were ever there to bless and animate us.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) Does the patient describe hearing voices or act as if he/she hears voices?

(NPI - Describe Hearing Voices or Act as if He/She Hears Voices, NCI Thesaurus)