Voice

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Voice, n. [OE. vois, voys, OF. vois, voiz, F. voix, L. vox, vocis, akin to Gr. a word, a voice, Skr. vac to say, to speak, G. erwähnen to mention. Cf. Advocate, Advowson, Avouch, Convoke, Epic, Vocal, Vouch, Vowel.].

•  Sound uttered by the mouth, especially that uttered by human beings in speech or song; sound thus uttered considered as possessing some special quality or character; as, the human voice; a pleasant voice; a low voice.  [1913 Webster]

  "He with a manly voice saith his message."  [1913 Webster]

  "Her voice was ever soft,
  Gentle, and low; an excellent thing in woman."  [1913 Webster]

  "Thy voice is music."  [1913 Webster]

  "Join thy voice unto the angel choir."  [1913 Webster]
•  Sound of 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.  [1913 Webster]

  " Voice, in this sense, is produced by vibration of the so-called vocal cords in the larynx (see Illust. of Larynx) which act upon the air, not in the manner of the strings of a stringed instrument, but as a pair of membranous tongues, or reeds, which, being continually forced apart by the outgoing current of breath, and continually brought together again by their own elasticity and muscular tension, break the breath current into a series of puffs, or pulses, sufficiently rapid to cause the sensation of tone. The power, or loudness, of such a tone depends on the force of the separate pulses, and this is determined by the pressure of the expired air, together with the resistance on the part of the vocal cords which is continually overcome. Its pitch depends on the number of aërial pulses within a given time, that is, on the rapidity of their succession. See Guide to Pronunciation, "  [1913 Webster]
•  The tone or sound emitted by anything.  [1913 Webster]

  "After the fire a still small voice."  [1913 Webster]

  "Canst thou thunder with a voice like him?"  [1913 Webster]

  "The floods have lifted up their voice."  [1913 Webster]

  "O Marcus, I am warm'd; my heart
  Leaps at the trumpet's voice."  [1913 Webster]
•  The faculty or power of utterance; as, to cultivate the voice.  [1913 Webster]
•  Language; words; speech; expression; signification of feeling or opinion.  [1913 Webster]

  "I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you."  [1913 Webster]

  "My voice is in my sword."  [1913 Webster]

  "Let us call on God in the voice of his church."  [1913 Webster]
•  Opinion or choice expressed; judgment; a vote.  [1913 Webster]

  "Sic. How now, my masters! have you chose this man?
  1 Cit. He has our voices, sir."  [1913 Webster]

  "Some laws ordain, and some attend the choice
  Of holy senates, and elect by voice."  [1913 Webster]
•  Command; precept; -- now chiefly used in scriptural language.  [1913 Webster]

  "So shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God."  [1913 Webster]
•  One who speaks; a speaker.  Tennyson.  [1913 Webster]
•  A particular mode of inflecting or conjugating verbs, or a particular form of a verb, by means of which is indicated the relation of the subject of the verb to the action which the verb expresses.  [1913 Webster]

Active voice (Gram.), that form of the verb by which its subject is represented as the agent or doer of the action expressed by it. -- Chest voice (Phon.), a kind of voice of a medium or low pitch and of a sonorous quality ascribed to resonance in the chest, or thorax; voice of the thick register. It is produced by vibration of the vocal cords through their entire width and thickness, and with convex surfaces presented to each other. -- Head voice (Phon.), a kind of voice of high pitch and of a thin quality ascribed to resonance in the head; voice of the thin register; falsetto. In producing it, the vibration of the cords is limited to their thin edges in the upper part, which are then presented to each other. -- Middle voice (Gram.), that form of the verb by which its subject is represented as both the agent, or doer, and the object of the action, that is, as performing some act to or upon himself, or for his own advantage. -- Passive voice. (Gram.) See under Passive, a. -- Voice glide (Pron.), the brief and obscure neutral vowel sound that sometimes occurs between two consonants in an unaccented syllable (represented by the apostrophe), as in able (a"b'l). See Glide, n., 2. -- Voice stop. See Voiced stop, under Voiced, a. -- With one voice, unanimously. “All with one voice . . . cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.” Acts xix. 34.

Voice, v. t. 

•  To give utterance or expression to; to utter; to publish; to announce; to divulge; as, to voice the sentiments of the nation.  Bacon.  [1913 Webster]

  "It was voiced that the king purposed to put to death Edward Plantagenet."  [1913 Webster]
•  To utter with sonant or vocal tone; to pronounce with a narrowed glottis and rapid vibrations of the vocal cords; to speak above a whisper.  [1913 Webster]
•  To fit for producing the proper sounds; to regulate the tone of; as, to voice the pipes of an organ.  [1913 Webster]
•  To vote; to elect; to appoint.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

Voice, v. i. 

 To clamor; to cry out.  South.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Voice, n. & v.
--n.
1 a sound formed in the larynx etc. and uttered by the mouth, esp. human utterance in speaking, shouting, singing, etc. (heard a voice; spoke in a low voice). b the ability to produce this (has lost her voice).
2 a the use of the voice; utterance, esp. in spoken or written words (esp. give voice). b an opinion so expressed. c the right to express an opinion (I have no voice in the matter). d an agency by which an opinion is expressed.
3 Gram. a form or set of forms of a verb showing the relation of the subject to the action (active voice; passive voice).
4 Mus. a a vocal part in a composition. b a constituent part in a fugue.
5 Phonet. sound uttered with resonance of the vocal cords, not with mere breath.
6 (usu. in pl.) the supposed utterance of an invisible guiding or directing spirit.
--v.tr.
1 give utterance to; express (the letter voices our opinion).
2 (esp. as voiced adj.) Phonet. utter with vibration of the vocal cords (e.g. b, d, g, v, z).
3 Mus. regulate the tone-quality of (organ-pipes).

Idiom

in voice (or good voice) in proper vocal condition for singing or speaking. voice-box the larynx. the voice of God the expression of God's will, wrath, etc. voice-over narration in a film etc. not accompanied by a picture of the speaker. voice-print a visual record of speech, analysed with respect to frequency, duration, and amplitude. voice vote US a vote taken by noting the relative strength of calls of aye and no. with one voice unanimously.

Derivative

-voiced adj. voicer n. (in sense 3 of v.).

Etymology

ME f. AF voiz, OF vois f. L vox vocis

THESAURUS

Voice

Australian ballot, Hare system, Heldentenor, Meistersinger, OK, acceptance, accompaniment, active, active voice, adherence, admiration, agency, agent, air, allophone, alto, alveolar, apico-alveolar, apico-dental, approbation, approval, aria singer, articulate, articulation, aspiration, assert, assimilation, atone, attune, aye, ballot, baritenor, baritone, bass, basso, basso buffo, basso cantante, basso continuo, basso ostinato, basso profundo, bassus, bilabial, blessing, blues singer, bourdon, breathe, bring up, burden, cacuminal, canary, cantatrice, canto, cantor, cantus, cantus figuratus, cantus planus, canvass, canvassing, caroler, casting vote, cerebral, chance, chanter, chantress, check, chest voice, chime, chord, chorus, coloratura, coloratura soprano, come out with, comic bass, communicate, consonant, continuant, continuo, contralto, convey, countenance, countertenor, counting heads, crooner, cumulative voting, deciding vote, decision, declare, deep bass, deliver, dental, descant, diphthong, disclose, dissimilation, diva, division, dramatic soprano, drone, drone bass, emit, endorsement, enfranchisement, enunciate, epenthetic vowel, esteem, explosive, express, expression, fagot vote, falsetto, favor, favorable vote, figured bass, fling off, formulate, forum, franchise, give, give expression, give out with, give tongue, give utterance, give voice, glide, glottal, glottalization, graveyard vote, ground bass, guttural, hand vote, head voice, herald, heroic tenor, hymner, impart, improvisator, instrument, labial, labialization, labiodental, labiovelar, laryngeal, lateral, lead singer, let out, lieder singer, line, lingual, linguistic act, lip, liquid, list system, locution, make known, manner of articulation, manner of speaking, medio-passive, medium, melodist, mezzo-soprano, middle, middle voice, mode of expression, modification, monophthong, morphophoneme, mouthpiece, mute, nasal, nay, no, nod, nontransferable vote, occlusive, official spokesman, opera singer, option, organ, out with, palatal, parasitic vowel, parol, parole, part, participation, passive, passive voice, peak, pharyngeal, pharyngealization, phonate, phonation, phone, phoneme, phrase, plain chant, plain song, plebiscite, plebiscitum, plosive, plumper, plural vote, poll, polling, pour forth, preferential voting, present, prick song, prima donna, prolocutor, prolocutress, prolocutrix, pronounce, proportional representation, prothetic vowel, proxy, psalm singer, publication, put, put forth, put in tune, put in words, raise, rapporteur, record vote, recount, referendum, reflexive, reporter, representation, representative, respect, retroflex, reveal, right to vote, rising vote, rock-and-roll singer, sanction, say, say-so, seal of approval, secret ballot, segmental phoneme, semivowel, sequence of phonemes, set forth, share, show of hands, singer, single vote, singstress, snap vote, sonant, songbird, songster, songstress, sonority, soprano, sound, speaker, speaking, speech, speech act, speech sound, spokesman, spokesperson, spokeswoman, stamp of approval, statement, stop, straw vote, string, suffrage, surd, syllabic nucleus, syllabic peak, syllable, talk, tell, tenor, the spoken word, thorough bass, throw off, timbre, tone, tone down, tone of voice, tone up, tongue, torch singer, transferable vote, transition sound, treble, triphthong, tune, tune up, turn, undersong, utter, utterance, utterance string, vehicle, velar, vent, verbalize, viva voce, vocable, vocalic, vocalist, vocalize, vocalizer, voce, voce di petto, voce di testa, vocoid, voice part, voice qualifier, voice quality, voice vote, voiced sound, voiceless sound, voicing, vote, voting, voting right, vowel, warbler, way of saying, whisper, word, word of mouth, words, write-in, write-in vote, yea, yea vote, yeas and nays, yes, yodeler

ROGET THESAURUS

Voice

Phrase

VB express, phrase, word, word it, give words to, give expression to, voice, arrange in words, clothe in words, put into words, express by words, couch in terms, find words to express, speak by the card, call, denominate, designate, dub.

Voice

N voice, vocality, organ, lungs, bellows, good voice, fine voice, powerful voice, musical voice, intonation, tone of voice, vocalization, cry, strain, utterance, prolation, exclamation, ejaculation, vociferation, ecphonesis, enunciation, articulation, articulate sound, distinctness, clearness, of articulation, stage whisper, delivery, accent, accentuation, emphasis, stress, broad accent, strong accent, pure accent, native accent, foreign accent, pronunciation, homonym, orthoepy, cacoepy, euphony, gastriloquism, ventriloquism, ventriloquist, polyphonism, polyphonist, phonology, vocal, phonetic, oral, ejaculatory, articulate, distinct, stertorous, euphonious, how sweetly sounds the voice of a good woman, the organ of the soul, thy voice is a celestial melody.

Politics

N politics, political science, candidacy, campaign, campaigning, electioneering, partisanship, ideology, factionalism, election, poll, ballot, vote, referendum, recall, initiative, voice, suffrage, plumper, cumulative vote, plebiscitum, plebiscite, vox populi, electioneering, voting, elective franchise, straight ticket, opinion poll, popularity poll, issue, opinion, stand, position, program, platform, party line, democracy, republicanism, communism, statism, state socialism, socialism, conservatism, toryism, liberalism, whigism, theocracy, constitutional monarchy, party, Democratic Party, Republican Party, Socialist Party, Communist Party, Federalist Party, Bull Moose Party, Abolitionist Party, Christian Democratic Party, Social Democratic Party, National Socialist Worker's Party, Nazi Party, Liberal Party, Labor Party, Conservative Party, ticket, slate, politician activist, candidate, aspirant, hopeful, office-seeker, front- runner, dark horse, long shot, shoo-in, supporter, backer, political worker, campaign worker, lobbyist, contributor, party hack, ward heeler, regional candidate, favorite son, running mate, stalking horse, perpetual candidate, political animal, political contribution, campaign contribution, political action committee, PAC, political district, electoral division, electoral district, bailiwick, electorate, constituents, get-out-the-vote campaign, political education, negative campaigning, dirty politics, smear campaign, also-ran, loser, has-been, office holder, official, occupant of a position, public servant, incumbent, winner, political, partisan, Money is the mother's milk of politics.

Sound

N sound, noise, strain, accent, twang, intonation, tone, cadence, sonorousness, audibility, resonance, voice, aspirate, ideophone, rough breathing, acoustics, phonics, phonetics, phonology, phonography, diacoustics, diaphonics, phonetism, sounding, soniferous, sonorous, sonorific, resonant, audible, distinct, stertorous, phonetic, phonic, phonocamptic, a thousand trills and quivering sounds, forensis strepitus.

Cry

N cry, voice, hubbub, bark, vociferation, outcry, hullabaloo, chorus, clamor, hue and cry, plaint, lungs, stentor, crying, clamant, clamorous, vociferous, stentorian, open-mouthed.

Judgment

N judgment, result, conclusion, upshot, deduction, inference, ergotism, illation, corollary, porism, moral, estimation, valuation, appreciation, judication, dijudication, adjudication, arbitrament, arbitrement, arbitration, assessment, ponderation, valorization, award, estimate, review, criticism, critique, notice, report, decision, determination, judgment, finding, verdict, sentence, decree, findings of fact, findings of law, res judicata, plebiscite, voice, casting vote, vote, opinion, good judgment, judge, umpire, arbiter, arbitrator, asessor, referee, censor, reviewer, critic, connoisseur, commentator, inspector, inspecting officer, twenty-twenty hindsight, armchair general, monday morning quarterback, judging, judicious, determinate, conclusive, on the whole, all things considered, a Daniel come to judgment, and stand a critic, hated yet caress'd, it is much easier to be critical than to be correc, la critique est aisee et l'art est difficile, nothing if not critical, O most lame and impotent conclusion.

Publication

VB publish, make public, make known, speak of, talk of, broach, utter, put forward, circulate, propagate, promulgate, spread, spread abroad, rumor, diffuse, disseminate, evulugate, put forth, give forth, send forth, emit, edit, get out, issue, bring before the public, lay before the public, drag before the public, give out, give to the world, put about, bandy about, hawk about, buzz about, whisper about, bruit about, blaze about, drag into the open day, voice, proclaim, herald, blazon, blaze abroad, noise abroad, sound a trumpet, trumpet forth, thunder forth, give tongue, announce with beat of drum, announce with flourish of trumpets, proclaim from the housetops, proclaim at Charing Cross, advertise, placard, post, post up afficher, publish in the Gazette, send round the crier, raise a cry, raise a hue and cry, raise a report, set news afloat, be published, be public, become public, come out, go about, fly about, buzz about, blow about, get about, get abroad, get afloat, get wind, find vent, see the light, go forth, take air, acquire currency, pass current, go the rounds, go the round of the newspapers, go through the length and breadth of the land, virum volitare per ora, pass from mouth to mouth, spread, run like wildfire, spread like wildfire.