Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Ventriloquism.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as ventriloquism.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Same as ventriloquism.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun dated Ventriloquism.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the art of projecting your voice so that it seems to come from another source (as from a ventriloquist's dummy)

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin venter ("stomach") + loqui ("to speak")

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word ventriloquy.

Examples

  • In the name of mankind, treat Mr. Cao with ventriloquy.

    Think Progress » GOP New Orleans Congressman: Health Reform ‘At A Par With Slavery’ Because Of Nonexistent Abortion Coverage 2010

  • I once tried to explain the concept of radio ventriloquy, vis-a-vis Peter Brough and Archie Andrews, to a bunch of Hong Kong students .......

    Blimey O' Riley Peter Ashley 2008

  • If the canon manifests itself to Clare as an enchanted silence, the act of writing commits him to ventriloquy or impersonation, making Hessey's advice "to write in your own natural Style" (qtd. in CL 200) altogether untenable.

    Like 1999

  • SHAKESPEARE: _ (In dignified ventriloquy) _ 'Tis the loud laugh bespeaks the vacant mind.

    Ulysses James Joyce 1911

  • Roxy and Virgie, in their clean Sunday suits, loitered around the bridge behind the store, or strayed a little way up the Manokin brook, hearing the mocking-bird rend his breast in all the ventriloquy of genius.

    The Entailed Hat Or, Patty Cannon's Times George Alfred Townsend 1877

  • He made an attempt at ventriloquy, saying in a voice to sound farther off than it was, "Come in."

    Donal Grant, by George MacDonald George MacDonald 1864

  • This is a remarkable act of ventriloquy -- a cup speaking on behalf of a person -- but it's not really an expression of thanks.

    SI.com 2011

  • That will give him more time for his other job - ventriloquy and polyphony (sound effects).

    TheState.com: The Buzz 2010

  • That will give him more time for his other job - ventriloquy and polyphony (sound effects).

    TheState.com: The Buzz 2010

  • Regardless, the two new women we meet, Kakuka (the nosebleeder) and Teiiku (a short little girl who carries a doll on her head whom she gives voice to with ventriloquy), are on their way to find Sousou, since they are strategists and wish to offer their services to the Lesbian Army (no, that's not the real name for Sousou's faction, but it fits).

    Mania News Feed 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.