mouth

noun, often attributive

\ ˈmau̇th

plural mouths\ ˈmau̇t͟hz

also ˈmau̇z

, ˈmau̇ths

; in synecdochic compounds like "blabbermouths" ˈmau̇ths is more frequent \

Definition of mouth

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : the natural opening through which food passes into the body of an animal and which in vertebrates is typically bounded externally by the lips and internally by the pharynx and encloses the tongue, gums, and teeth

b : grimace made a mouth

c : an individual requiring food had too many mouths to feed

2a : voice, speech finally gave mouth to her feelings

b : mouthpiece sense 3a he is the mouth … of the House in its relations with the Crown— T. E. May

c(1) : a tendency to excessive talk he is not all mouth … he gets results — Time

(2) : saucy or disrespectful language : impudence just don't take any mouth from him— Jackson Burgess

3 : something that resembles a mouth especially in affording entrance or exit: such as

a : the place where a stream enters a larger body of water

b : the surface opening of an underground cavity (see cavity sense 1) the mouth of a well the mouth of a volcano

c : the opening of a container the mouth of a bottle

d : an opening in the side of an organ flue pipe

down in the mouth

: dejected, sulky

mouth

verb

\ ˈmau̇t͟h

also ˈmau̇th

mouthed; mouthing; mouths

Definition of mouth (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1a : speak, pronounce

b : to utter bombastically : declaim

c : to repeat without comprehension or sincerity always mouthing platitudes

d : to form soundlessly with the lips the librarian mouthed the word "quiet"

e : to utter indistinctly : mumble mouthed his words

2 : to take into the mouth especially : eat

intransitive verb

1a : to talk pompously : rant —often used with off

b : to talk insolently or impudently —usually used with off

2 : to move the mouth especially so as to make faces

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Synonyms for mouth

Synonyms: Noun

chops, gob [chiefly British], kisser [slang], mug, piehole [slang], trap [slang], yap [slang]

Synonyms: Verb

grimace, mug

Examples of mouth in a Sentence

Noun

He kissed her on the mouth. He threatened to punch me in the mouth. She stood there with her mouth agape. I burned the roof of my mouth. They told him to keep his mouth closed when chewing and not to talk with his mouth full. He wiped his mouth with a napkin after eating. She regretted saying it as soon as the words were out of her mouth. The smell of the food made my mouth water. The candy melts in your mouth. The medication is taken by mouth.

Verb

She was just mouthing the usual meaningless platitudes about the need for reform. silently mouthing the words to a song

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The taste of losing to Wyoming was all but washed from the Tigers' mouth with a refreshing 38-7 thumping of West Virginia. — Tyler Horka, USA TODAY, "SEC Football Power Rankings: Where does LSU land after win over Texas?," 9 Sep. 2019 Adults look absurd sleeping in public: flopping head, snapping chin, snoring, drooling, mouth agape. — Karen Heller, Washington Post, "We need the travel pillow. But we hate the travel pillow.," 9 Sep. 2019 The Hawks have won three state championships over the last decade by playing a smash-mouth brand of football and dominating the line of scrimmage. — Nate Weitzer, BostonGlobe.com, "Barnstable put it all on the line during off-season work," 8 Sep. 2019 The Broncos want to be an innovative smash-mouth team heavy on play-action and downfield passes. — Ryan O’halloran, The Denver Post, "Broncos GM John Elway believes Vic Fangio is the right man with the right plan," 8 Sep. 2019 Breathe in through the nose for a count of three, hold for a further count of three, and then release through the mouth for another three. — Christos Tsirbas, The Hollywood Reporter, "Toronto: Where Hollywood Can Escape the Festival Frenzy With Meditation," 7 Sep. 2019 Although the can says its made with milk, Hard Coffee is surprisingly watery and leaves a sugary coating in the mouth that's far from pleasant. — Lauren Saria, azcentral, "We tried Pabst Blue Ribbon's Stronger Seltzer and Hard Coffee. Here's what they taste like," 6 Sep. 2019 That also complicates the depictions, as certain things the kids get away with feel obnoxious in adult hands and mouths. — John Wenzel, The Know, "Review: “It Chapter Two” is a confused, gory beast of a film," 6 Sep. 2019 The offense went full smash-mouth and ran the ball with reckless abandon. — Justice Delos Santos, The Mercury News, "Wilcox scores 27 straight points to come back and beat San Benito," 6 Sep. 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

The three 11-year-old heroes of Gene Stupnitsky’s new comedy are somewhat foul-mouthed, occasionally girl-crazy, and drawn into plenty of wild antics over the course of the movie—but every joke is about how bad these kids are at being bad. — David Sims, The Atlantic, "Good Boys Is a Raunchy but Sweet Comedy," 12 Aug. 2019 Rue’s actress Zendaya is singing an original song in voiceover (Zendaya, who came up on the Disney Channel, had a music career in addition to her acting career for awhile), and onscreen, Rue is mouthing along to the words, but slightly off-beat. — Constance Grady, Vox, "Why Euphoria’s messy season finale could mean great things for the show’s future," 11 Aug. 2019 Other obstacles include whether technology companies can adequately flag troublesome behavior in advance, and whether law enforcement can successfully separate out those bent on violence from those who simply mouth off about it. — Eric Tucker, Twin Cities, "Shooting shows challenges for FBI in probing domestic terror," 5 Aug. 2019 Liberal viewers think Lake has mouthed off enough and needs to go. — Kerry Lengel, azcentral, "Parlergate? What we know and don’t know about Kari Lake’s return to Fox 10," 24 July 2019 Most of the time, the camera was on Pacquiao, reverently mouthing the words to his country’s most precious piece of music. — Bill Dwyre, Los Angeles Times, "Commentary: Manny Pacquiao’s victory would be the ultimate farewell to a storied career," 21 July 2019 The smaller males care for the eggs, fanning them and mouthing them to clean them. — Jenny Howard, National Geographic, "These fish eggs aren't hatching. The culprit? Light pollution.," 9 July 2019 In a tweet that has since been deleted, Griffith, 31, refrained from bad-mouthing his ex, but offered a protest in the form of a North Carolina Judicial Standards Complaint Form. — Rachel Desantis, PEOPLE.com, "Jenelle Evans Seemingly Confirms David Eason Killed Her Dog: 'He Knows How Upset It Made Me'," 8 July 2019 Johnson has assembled an impressive cast, including Jamie Lee Curtis, a delightfully foul-mouthed Chris Evans, Toni Collette casting shade, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Katherine Langford, M. Emmet Walsh, and Frank Oz. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, "Rian Johnson trades in lightsabers for postmodern whodunnit Knives Out," 2 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mouth.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near mouth

Statistics for mouth

Last Updated

12 Sep 2019

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Time Traveler for mouth

The first known use of mouth was before the 12th century

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More Definitions for mouth

mouth

noun

English Language Learners Definition of mouth

(Entry 1 of 2)

: the opening through which food passes into the body : the part of the face that includes the lips and the opening behind them

: an opening in something

: the place where a river enters the ocean

mouth

verb

English Language Learners Definition of mouth (Entry 2 of 2)

: to say or repeat (something) without really meaning it or understanding it

: to form (words) with your lips without speaking

See the full definition for mouth in the English Language Learners Dictionary

mouth

noun

\ ˈmau̇th

plural mouths\ ˈmau̇t͟hz , ˈmau̇ths \

Kids Definition of mouth

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : the opening through which food passes into the body and which in humans is surrounded on the outside by the lips and contains the tongue and teeth

2 : an opening that is like a mouth There was a butcher who worked in the mouth of a narrow alley.— Laurence Yep, Dragonwings

3 : the place where a stream enters a larger body of water

mouth

verb

\ ˈmau̇t͟h

mouthed; mouthing

Kids Definition of mouth (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : to form with the lips without speaking The librarian mouthed “quiet.”

2 : to repeat without being sincere or without understanding Salesmen mouthed meaningless slogans.

mouth

noun

\ ˈmau̇th

plural mouths\ ˈmau̇t͟hz

Medical Definition of mouth

: the natural opening through which food passes into the animal body and which in vertebrates is typically bounded externally by the lips and internally by the pharynx and encloses the tongue, gums, and teeth