lip-read
Britishverb
Explanation
To lip-read is to interpret someone's speech by watching their mouth, rather than listening to their voice. Hearing impaired people who learn to lip read can understand even people who don't know sign language. While being fluent in sign language makes it possible for deaf people to communicate easily with each other, and with those who also understand it, an ability to lip-read is also useful. Learning to lip-read is challenging for someone who's grown up deaf — it's easier for people with minimal, or gradual, hearing loss. You can also use the verb speech-read.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It’s there when everybody coos at Han’s white cat making a surprise appearance — and even in how quickly they offer to lip-read and interpret Gladstone’s comments while she’s sorting out her mute button.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2025
She doesn't understand why he can't simply lip-read everything: "It always seems like people can lip-read more in the movies."
From Salon • Aug. 3, 2022
American Jake Ilardi let loose some words that were easily lip-read as he placed 11th, three places out of the final eight.
From The Guardian • Jul. 24, 2021
When she was young, she watched TV with the sound off to learn how to lip-read.
From New York Times • May 11, 2021
“I’m sorry,” he says, so quietly that I more lip-read it than hear it.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
