verbal

1. not comparableOf or relating to words.

   Synonyms: wordish

2. not comparableConcerned with the words, rather than the substance of a text.

   a purely verbal distinction

   Antonyms: substantive

3. not comparableConsisting of words only.

   It was not a verbal remark, but a proceeding in dumb-show

   1861, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

   1 more example

   We subjoin an engraving […] which will give the reader a far better notion of the structure than any verbal description could convey to the mind.

   1864, Henry Mayhew, German Life and Manners as Seen in Saxony at the Present

4. not comparableExpressly spoken rather than written; oral.

   a verbal contract

   3 more examples

   a verbal testimony

   You can't have verbal communication with a man in New South Wales, you know.

   1861, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

   I am not speaking of the verbal use of the term 'Fascist'. I am speaking of what I have seen in print.

   1944, George Orwell, “What is Fascism?”, in Tribune

5. not comparablegrammarDerived from, or having the nature of a verb.

   Synonyms: rhematic

6. not comparablegrammarUsed to form a verb.
7. not comparableCapable of speech.

   How do these language problems affect the behaviour of verbal children?

   2005, Avril V. Brereton, Bruce J. Tonge, Pre-schoolers with autism, page 55

   Antonyms: preverbal, non-verbal

8. not comparableWord for word.

   a verbal translation

   Synonyms: literal, verbatim

9. not comparableobsoleteAbounding with words; verbose.

   You put me to forget a lady’s manners By being so verbal; and learn now, for all, That I, which know my heart, do here pronounce By th’ very truth of it, I care not for you

   1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]

plural verbals

1. countablegrammarA verb form which does not function as a predicate, or a word derived from a verb. In English, infinitives, participles and gerunds are verbals.

   Synonyms: non-finite verb

2. IrelandUKcountableA spoken confession given to police.

   They were convicted on the evidence of an agent provocateur named Richard Seary, backed up by police verbals from three police officers who gave evidence of six verbals in which the three accused were supposed to have admitted their guilt.

   1982, New South Wales. Parliament, Parliamentary Debates, page 2496

3. IrelandUKcolloquialuncountableTalk; speech, especially banter or scolding.

   We'd give him a bit of verbal, out would come the bouncers, chucking their weight about, and it would all end in a right tear-up.

   2013, Lenny McLean, The Guv'nor

present singular third person verbals · US participle present verbaling · UK participle present verballing · US participle past verbaled · US past verbaled · UK participle past verballed · UK past verballed

1. AustraliaUKtransitiveTo allege (usually falsely) that someone has made an oral admission.

   The problem of 'verballing' is unlikely to disappear, whatever the legal status of the person detained.

   1982, John A. Andrews, Human Rights in Criminal Procedure: A Comparative Study, BRILL, →ISBN, page 128

   4 more examples

   Condren had always claimed that he was assaulted and verballed by police over the murder he had supposedly confessed to committing. Specifically, Condren claimed that he had been subjected to assault and intimidation prior to making a police record of interview, that the record of interview was largely fabricated by police, and that the oral admissions which police claimed he had made prior to the record of interview were also fabricated.

   2001, Chris Cunneen, Conflict, Politics and Crime: Aboriginal Communities and the Police, Allen & Unwin, →ISBN, page 116

   "Moreover, given the risk of verballing, it is by no means apparent that it is in the interests of justice that the prosecution have the benefit of admissions that are made on occasions when recordings are impracticable."

   2004, Jeremy Gans, Andrew Palmer, Australian Principles of Evidence, Routledge Cavendish, →ISBN, page 504

   Kelvin Condren maintained his innocence, claiming that he was 'verballed' in his police record of interview (so they were someone else's words not his).

   2019, Kate Burridge, Tonya N. Stebbins, For the love of language: An Introduction to Linguistics, page 305

   As the necessary ingredient of an intention to commit an offence usually came from the mouth of the suspect himself, it was not difficult to make an arrest if the suspect was 'verballed'. A 'verbal' consisted of an unequivocal oral admission of guilt made to a police officer on the street, which, later on, the police officer transcribed into his notebook. It is called a 'verbal' if the suspect later denies making the incriminating remark.

   2020, Inigo Bing, Populism on Trial: What Happens When Trust in Law Breaks Down