Oxford Basic American Dictionary

[ count ] a book, especially one of a set The encyclopedia is in two volumes.

vol • un • tar • y AWL / ' valanteri / adjective

If something is voluntary , you do it because you want to, not because you must

She made a voluntary decision to leave the job. —ANTONYM compulsory

► vol • un • tar • i • lyAWL| / ^alan ' terali / adverb She left the job voluntarily.

vol • un • teer 1 AWL / |valan ' tir / noun [count]

a person who says that they will do a job without being forced or without being paid

They're asking for volunteers to help at the Christmas party.

He does volunteer work at a children's hospital.

vol • un • teer 2 AWL / ^abn ' tir / verb

( vol un . teers , vol . un . teer . ing , vol . un teered )

to say that you will do a job without being forced or without being paid

I volunteered to do the dishes.

She volunteers at her daughter's school.

vom • it / ' vamat / verb ( vom . its , vom . it . ing , vom it . ed )

( HEALTH ) When you vomit , food comes up from your stomach and out of your mouth. ►vom • it noun [ noncount ]

the food that comes up from your stomach when you

vomit

VOte 1Ф / vout / noun [ count ]

when you choose someone or something by writing on a

piece of paper or by putting up your hand

There were 96 votes for the plan, and 25 against.

We couldn't agree on a title for the project, so we decided

to take a vote .

VOte 2 © / vout / verb (votes , vot ing , vot ed )

to choose someone or something by writing on a piece of

paper or by putting up your hand

Who did you vote for in the election?

They voted to ban the use of cell phones inside the

building.

►vot • ei / ' voutar / noun [ count ]

a person who votes in a political election

vouch • er / ' vautjbr / noun [ count ]

a piece of paper that you can use instead of money to pay for something

vow / vau / noun [ count ]

a formal and serious promise to do something The monks made a vow of silence.

vow • el / vausl / noun [ count ]

( ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS ) one of the letters "a," "e," "i,"

"o," or "u"

—Look at consonant .

i.

voy • age / ' vond3 / noun [ count ]

a long trip by boat or in space

Columbus made his first voyage to the New World in 1492. Thesaurus

trip an act of traveling from one place to another, and usually back again. A trip can be short or long, and can be for business or pleasure: a business trip ♦ a round-the-world trip ♦ a trip to the grocery store ♦ They took a trip down the river. ♦ We just got back from our trip to Japan. We had a great time. travel the general activity of moving from place to place. With this meaning, travel is a noncount noun. A person's travels are the time he or she spends traveling, especially in foreign countries and for pleasure: air/rail/space travel ♦ Foreign travel is very popular these days. ♦ The book is about her travels around Europe.

journey a long and often difficult trip from one place to another: It was a dangerous journey across the mountains. ♦ They continued their journey on foot. expedition a long, organized trip to find out about a place or to do something special: He led the first expedition to the North Pole. ♦ She made two expeditions to Brazil to study the wild plants. voyage a long trip by water or in space: The Titantic sank on its first voyage. ♦ The spacecraft began its voyage to Jupiter.