Definition of "ventriloquy" [ven•tril•o•quy]

• Ventriloquism. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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