mouth
/maʊθ/ noun, verb
Forms mouths mouthing mouthed mouthe
- noun (anatomy) The front opening of a creature through which food is ingested. “"Open your mouth and say 'aah'," directed the doctor.”
- noun The end of a river out of which water flows into a sea or other large body of water; or the end of a tributary out of which water flows into a larger river. “The mouth of the river is a good place to go birdwatching in spring and autumn.”
- noun An outlet, aperture or orifice.
- noun (slang) A loud or overly talkative person. “My kid sister is a real mouth; she never shuts up.”
- noun (slang) A gossip.
- noun (saddlery) The crosspiece of a bridle bit, which enters the mouth of an animal.
- noun (obsolete) A principal speaker; one who utters the common opinion; a mouthpiece.
- noun (obsolete) Speech; language; testimony.
- verb (transitive) To speak; to utter. “He mouthed his opinions on the subject at the meeting.”
- verb (transitive) To represent (words or sounds) by making the actions of speech, but silently, without producing sound; to frame. “The prompter mouthed the words to the actor, who had forgotten them.”
- verb (transitive, intransitive) To move the mouth, with or without sound; to form (air or words) with the mouth, with or without sound.
- verb (ambitransitive) To utter with a voice that is overly loud or swelling.
- verb To exit at a mouth (such as a river mouth)
- verb (transitive) To pick up or handle with the lips or mouth, but not chew or swallow. “The fish mouthed the lure, but didn't bite.”
- verb To take into the mouth; to seize or grind with the mouth or teeth; to chew; to devour.
- verb To form or cleanse with the mouth; to lick, as a bear licks her cub.
Synonyms
outlet bazoo cakehole chops clam clamshell gob hash-trap kisser laughing gear maw mug mush neb ned north and south oral cavity os piehole potato trap oral fissure rima oris mouthpiece sass sassing backtalk back talk lip talk speak
Etymology
From Middle English mouth, from Old English mūþ, from Proto-West Germanic *munþ, from Proto-Germanic *munþaz (“mouth”), from Proto-Indo-European *ment- (“to chew; jaw, mouth”).
Cognate with Scots mooth (“mouth”), North Frisian mös, müs, Mür (“mouth”), West Frisian mûn (“mouth”), Dutch mond (“mouth”), muide (“river mouth”) and mui (“riptide”), German Mund (“mouth”), Luxembourgish Mond (“mouth”), Danish mund (“mouth”), Faroese muður, munnur (“mouth”), Icelandic munnur (“mouth”), Swedish mun (“mouth”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk munn (“mouth”), Gothic 𐌼𐌿𐌽𐌸𐍃 (munþs, “mouth”), Latin mentum (“chin”) and mandō (“to chew”), Ancient Greek μάσταξ (mástax, “jaws, mouth”) and μασάομαι (masáomai, “to chew”), Albanian mjekër (“chin, beard”), Welsh mant (“jawbone”), Hittite 𒈨𒂊𒉌𒄿 (me-e-ni-i /mēni/, “face, cheek”). The verb is from Middle English mouthen, from the noun.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The opening through which an animal receives food; the aperture between the jaws or between the lips; also, the cavity, containing the tongue and teeth, between the lips and the pharynx; the buccal cavity.
- noun Hence:
- verb To take into the mouth; to seize or grind with the mouth or teeth; to chew; to devour. Dryden.
- verb To utter with a voice affectedly big or swelling; to speak in a strained or unnaturally sonorous manner. "Mouthing big phrases." Hare.
Etymology [OE. mouth, mu, AS. m; akin to D. mond, OS. m, G. mund, Icel. mu, munnr, Sw. mun, Dan. mund, Goth. mun, and possibly L. mentum chin; or cf. D. muil mouth, muzzle, G. maul, OHG. m, Icel. m, and Skr. mukha mouth.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “mouth”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details