'Passive voice' definitions:

Definition of 'passive voice'

From: WordNet
noun
The voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is the recipient (not the source) of the action denoted by the verb; "`The ball was thrown by the boy' uses the passive voice"; "`The ball was thrown' is an abbreviated passive" [syn: passive voice, passive] [ant: active, active voice]

Definition of 'Passive voice'

From: GCIDE
  • Voice \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. erw[aum]hnen to mention. Cf. Advocate, Advowson, Avouch, Convoke, Epic, Vocal, Vouch, Vowel.]
  • 1. 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. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
  • Her voice was ever soft, Gentle, and low; an excellent thing in woman. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • Thy voice is music. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • Join thy voice unto the angel choir. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. (Phon.) 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]
  • Note: 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 aerial pulses within a given time, that is, on the rapidity of their succession. See Guide to Pronunciation, [sect][sect] 5,
  • 146, 155. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. The tone or sound emitted by anything. [1913 Webster]
  • After the fire a still small voice. --1 Kings xix. 12. [1913 Webster]
  • Canst thou thunder with a voice like him? --Job xl. 9. [1913 Webster]
  • The floods have lifted up their voice. --Ps. xciii. 3. [1913 Webster]
  • O Marcus, I am warm'd; my heart Leaps at the trumpet's voice. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. The faculty or power of utterance; as, to cultivate the voice. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. 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. --Gal. iv. 20. [1913 Webster]
  • My voice is in my sword. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • Let us call on God in the voice of his church. --Bp. Fell. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. 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. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • Some laws ordain, and some attend the choice Of holy senates, and elect by voice. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. 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. --Deut. viii. 20. [1913 Webster]
  • 8. One who speaks; a speaker. "A potent voice of Parliament." --Tennyson. [1913 Webster]
  • 9. (Gram.) 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. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Passive voice'

From: GCIDE
  • Passive \Pas"sive\, a. [L. passivus: cf. F. passif. See Passion.]
  • 1. Not active, but acted upon; suffering or receiving impressions or influences; as, they were passive spectators, not actors in the scene. [1913 Webster]
  • The passive air Upbore their nimble tread. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • The mind is wholly passive in the reception of all its simple ideas. --Locke. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Receiving or enduring without either active sympathy or active resistance; without emotion or excitement; patient; not opposing; unresisting; as, passive obedience; passive submission. [1913 Webster]
  • The best virtue, passive fortitude. --Massinger. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. (Chem.) Inactive; inert; unreactive; not showing strong affinity; as, red phosphorus is comparatively passive. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. (Med.) Designating certain morbid conditions, as hemorrhage or dropsy, characterized by relaxation of the vessels and tissues, with deficient vitality and lack of reaction in the affected tissues. [1913 Webster]
  • Passive congestion (Med.), congestion due to obstruction to the return of the blood from the affected part.
  • Passive iron (Chem.), iron which has been subjected to the action of heat, of strong nitric acid, chlorine, etc. It is then not easily acted upon by acids.
  • Passive movement (Med.), a movement of a part, in order to exercise it, made without the assistance of the muscles which ordinarily move the part.
  • Passive obedience (as used by writers on government), obedience or submission of the subject or citizen as a duty in all cases to the existing government.
  • Passive prayer, among mystic divines, a suspension of the activity of the soul or intellectual faculties, the soul remaining quiet, and yielding only to the impulses of grace.
  • Passive verb, or Passive voice (Gram.), a verb, or form of a verb, which expresses the effect of the action of some agent; as, in Latin, doceor, I am taught; in English, she is loved; the picture is admired by all; he is assailed by slander. [1913 Webster]
  • Syn: Inactive; inert; quiescent; unresisting; unopposing; suffering; enduring; submissive; patient. [1913 Webster] Passive balloon