See Also: petit mal(dictionary)
petit(2)(dictionary)
petit(1)(dictionary)
Petit mal(health)
petit four(dictionary)
petit mal(medicine)
petit mal(dictionary)
petit four(dictionary)
Le Petit Hotel(tourism)
Petit fours(recipes)

oral (iou) and petit(1) (iou)


oral (iou)



oral adjective & noun. E17.
[Late Latin oralis, from Latin or-, os mouth: see -AL1.]
A. adjective.
Uttered or communicated in spoken words; conducted by word of mouth; spoken, verbal; spec. (of verse etc.) delivered or transmitted verbally, of or pertaining to such verse etc. E17.
H. Belloc Fragments preserved by oral tradition. H. A. L. Fisher Information..derived from oral sources only was..fragmentary.
a. Done or performed with or by the mouth as the organ of eating and drinking, spec. with ref. to the Eucharist. rare. E17.
b. (Of medication etc.) administered or taken through the mouth; involving such administration. M20.
J. H. Burn Ring worm..responds well to oral treatment with antibiotic Griseofulvin. W. J. Burley A sachet of oral contraceptives.
Of or pertaining to the mouth, as a part of the body. M17.
Designating or involving sexual activity in which the genitals of one partner are stimulated by the mouth of the Other. Cf. CUNNILINGUS, FELLATIO. L19.
S. Fisher Most of the women..received manual and often oral stimulation of the clitoral region.
Psychoanalysis. Of or concerning a supposed stage of infantile psychosexual development in which the mouth is the main focus of energy and feeling. E20.
Phonetics. Of a sound: articulated with the velum raised, so that there is no nasal resonance. E20.
Special collocations & comb.: oral-formulaic adjective of or pertaining to (usu. early) poetry belonging to a spoken tradition characterized by the use of poetic formulae. oral history (a collection of) tape-recorded historical information drawn from the speaker's personal knowledge; the use or interpretation of this as an academic subject. Oral Law the part of Jewish religious law believed to have been passed down by oral tradition before being collected in the Mishnah.
b. absol. as noun.
Phonetics. An oral sound. L19.
An oral examination or test. L19.
L. Appignanesi Following the written part there would be an oral.
oralism noun a method of instructing deaf mutes by ordinary speech and lip-reading, instead of by Sign Language L19.
oralist noun (a) rare an expert in oral delivery; (b) a person who teaches deaf mutes by oralism: M19.
orally adverb by, through, or with the mouth E17.

petit(1) (iou)



petit adjective2. [p?ti, p?'ti:, 'p?ti; same in pl. collocations/ E18.
[French: see PETTY adjective and cf. PETIT adjective1 & noun Cf. PETITE.]
The French (masc.) for 'little, small', occurring in various phrases used in English.

petit battement [batm[, pl. -s -s (pronounced same), a battement executed with the moving leg bent E20.
petit beurre [b:r[, pl. -s -s (pronounced same), a sweet butter biscuit E20.
petit bleu [bl?[, pl. -s -s (pronounced same), (in France) a telegram E20.
petit dejeuner [de??ne (pl. same), 'de???ne?[, pl. -s -s (pronounced same), breakfast in France or elsewhere L19.
petit grain , any of various essential oils with a floral scent, distilled from parts of the orange tree and Other citrus plants, and used in perfumery M19.
petit-ma?tre (a) a dandy, a fop, a coxcomb; (b) a musician, writer, etc., of minor importance: E18.
petit pain [p[, pl. -s -s (pronounced same), a small bread roll M18.
petit point (a) embroidery on canvas using small stitches; (b) tent-stitch: L19.
petit poussin [pus] (now rare) (pl. -s -s, pronounced same) = POUSSIN E20.
petits chevaux a gambling game in which bets are placed on mechanical horses made to spin round a flag at the centre of a special table L19.
petits soins [sw] small attentions or Services E19.
petit souper (now rare), pl. -s -s (pronounced same), a small informal dinner party M18.
petit suisse [sis, swi:s] a small round cream cheese E20.
petit tranchet Archaeology a small stone artefact of mesolithic and neolithic cultures with the end made into a broad cutting edge M20.
petit verre , pl. -s -s (pronounced same), a glass of liqueur M19.