mouth
[noun]
Synonyms:
- lips, gob (slang, especially Brit.), jaws, maw
- opening, aperture, door, entrance, gateway, inlet, orifice

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Related Words: mug, muzzle, estuary, delta

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English Thesaurus: river, tributary, estuary, canal, delta, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. mouth¹ S2 W1 /maʊθ/ noun (plural mouths /maʊðz/) [countable]
[Language: Old English; Origin: muth]

1. FACE the part of your face which you put food into, or which you use for speaking:
He lifted his glass to his mouth.
Liam was fast asleep with his mouth wide open.

2. keep your mouth shut informal
a) to not tell other people about a secret:
He demanded £2,000 to keep his mouth shut.
b) to not say something even if you think it:
I wished that I’d kept my mouth shut.

3. open your mouth to prepare to speak:
‘I’ll go,’ Travis said quickly before she could open her mouth.
open your mouth to say/speak/protest etc
Julia opened her mouth to reply, but they were interrupted.

4. (you) watch your mouth spoken informal used to tell someone not to speak in such a rude way

5. ENTRANCE the entrance to a large hole or cave:
As the train entered the mouth of the tunnel, the lights came on.

6. RIVER the part of a river where it joins the sea:
the mouth of the River Tees

7. BOTTLE/CONTAINER the open part at the top of a bottle or container

8. big mouth informal if someone has a big mouth, they say too much or tell another person’s secrets

9. me and my big mouth/you and your big mouth etc spoken used to criticize yourself or another person for saying something that should not have been said:
Oops, I shouldn’t have said that. Me and my big mouth.

10. mouth to feed/hungry mouth someone who you must provide food for, especially one of your children:
To these parents, a new baby is just another hungry mouth.

11. make your mouth water if food makes your mouth water, it smells or looks so good you want to eat it immediately:
The smell of the cooked fish made her mouth water. ⇒ mouth-watering

12. down in the mouth informal unhappy:
Tim’s looking very down in the mouth.

13. out of the mouths of babes (and sucklings) used humorously when a small child has just said something clever or interesting

14. be all mouth British English spoken if someone is all mouth, they talk a lot about what they will do but are not brave enough to actually do it
⇒ be born with a silver spoon in your mouth at born²(8), ⇒ by word of mouth at word¹(13), ⇒ be foaming at the mouth at foam²(2), ⇒ put your foot in your mouth at foot¹(15), ⇒ put your money where your mouth is at money(18), ⇒ put words into sb’s mouth at word¹(21), ⇒ shut your mouth at shut¹(2), ⇒ shoot your mouth off at shoot¹(12), ⇒ foul-mouthed, mealy-mouthed

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. mouth² /maʊð/ verb [transitive]

1. to move your lips in the same way you do when you are saying words, but without making any sound:
She silently mouthed the words ‘Good luck’.
Philip mouthed something through the glass which she did not hear.

2. to say things that you do not really believe or that you do not understand:
The players mouthed clichés about what they hoped to do at the World Cup.
They mouthed the usual platitudes.
mouth off phrasal verb informal
to complain angrily and noisily about something, or talk as if you know more than anyone else
mouth off at/to
You should have heard Pete mouthing off at Joe.
mouth off about
Morris was mouthing off about his former team.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

mouth
noun
ADJ. big, cavernous, enormous, generous, huge, large, wide | small | beautiful, chiselled, handsome, lovely, pretty, sensual, sensuous, well-shaped | firm, hard, strong A smile played around his strong mouth.
soft | hot, warm | loose, slack | full, full-lipped | lipless, thin | toothless | lopsided | wet | dry, tight A tight mouth was the only sign of her nerves.
gaping, half-open, open | cruel | hungry | swollen
VERB + MOUTH open, shut | cover He covered his mouth to hide his yawn.
wipe He wiped his greasy mouth on his sleeve.
fill He coughed as the blood filled his mouth.
foam at, froth at The dog was foaming at the mouth and near death.
MOUTH + VERB drop open, fall open, hang open, open, sag open Our mouths dropped open in surprise.
close, shut | be contorted, be distorted, be set, compress, contort, harden, purse, set, thin, tighten, turn down, twist His mouth compressed into a thin, hard line.
‘Get out!’ she shouted, her mouth contorted by emotion. Her mouth suddenly set in a determined line.
curl, curve, lift, quirk, stretch, tilt, turn up Her mouth curved into a smile. His mouth lifted in a wry smile.
droop, sag | pout | twitch | quiver, tremble | water My mouth started watering when I smelled the food.
be/go dry
MOUTH + NOUN ulcer
PREP. about/around your ~ There were lines of tension about his mouth.
across your ~ A cool smile played across her mouth.
in your ~ I could taste blood in my mouth.
over your ~ She put her hand over her mouth to stifle the cough.
PHRASES the back/roof of the mouth I was so thirsty my tongue was sticking to the roof of my mouth.
the corner/side of the mouth There was blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. The corners of her mouth turned up in a slight smile.
keep your mouth shut (= don't speak), (have, etc.) your mouth full (= full of food) Don't talk with your mouth full!
a mouth to feed Twins would mean two extra mouths to feed.
mouth-to-mouth (resuscitation) He pulled the boy from the river and gave him mouth-to-mouth.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

mouth

open/shut/close your mouth
He opened his mouth wide so the doctor could examine his throat.
cover your mouth
She laughed, covering her mouth with her hand.
wipe your mouth
He laid down his fork and wiped his mouth.
purse your mouth (=bring your lips tightly together, especially to show disapproval or worry)
Ian looked at her and pursed his mouth.
kiss somebody on the mouth
She walked boldly up to him and kissed him on the mouth.
sb’s mouth falls/drops open (=in surprise)
‘Me?’ she said, her mouth dropping open.
sb’s mouth tightens written (=their lips are pressed tightly together, usually in anger)
‘You mean you knew about this?’ His mouth tightened.
sb’s mouth twists written (=moves into an unhappy or angry expression)
His mouth twisted in a sneer.
dry (=especially because someone is nervous or ill)
My mouth was dry and my hands were shaking.
a big/large/wide/small mouth
He had a big nose and a big mouth.
Billy’s wide mouth stretched into a grin.
a generous mouth (=a large mouth that is attractive)
On her generous mouth was a smile.
a full mouth (=with large attractive lips)
She had heavy-lidded eyes and a full mouth.
a thin mouth (=with thin lips)
a woman with a sharp nose and a thin mouth
a rosebud mouth (=a small red attractive mouth)
The girl had huge brown eyes and a rosebud mouth.
the corner/side of your mouth
A smile lifted the corners of her mouth.
the roof of your mouth (=the top inside part)
He made a clicking sound with his tongue on the roof of his mouth.
with your mouth full (=with food in your mouth)
Don’t talk with your mouth full.
with your mouth open
He chews with his mouth open.
(with your) mouth agape written (=with your mouth open in surprise)
She stared at him, mouth agape.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

river a line of water that flows into the sea:
They crossed the river by ferry.
the River Tweed
the Yangtze river
tributary a stream or river that flows into a larger river:
The River Trombetas is a tributary of the River Amazon.
estuary the wide part of a river where it goes into the sea:
plans to build a big new airport on the Thames estuary
canal a long passage dug into the ground and filled with water, either for boats to travel along, or to take water to a place:
Venice’s famous canals
a canal boat
delta an area of low land where a river spreads into many smaller rivers near the sea:
the Nile delta
stream a small narrow river:
a cool mountain stream
brook literary a small stream:
There was a small brook, rushing and sparkling along between green banks.
creek a narrow area of sea that goes into the land, or a small river:
The River Fal with its many creeks was a perfect place for smugglers.
The kids hunted for crabs in the muddy creek.
mouth the part of a river where it joins the sea:
Havre-Marat was a port at the mouth of the River Seine.
bank land along the side of a river:
the river bank
He owns a chateau on the banks of the River Loire.
source the place where a river or stream starts:
The source of the River Nile was discovered by a British explorer, John Speke.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

mouth
̘. ̈n.mauθ
See: born with a silver spoon in one's mouth , butter wouldn't melt in one's mouth , by word of mouth , down in the dumps or down in the mouth , foam at the mouth , heart in one's mouth , keep one's mouth shut , laugh on the wrong side of one's mouth , leave a bad taste in one's mouth , live from hand to mouth , look a gift horse in the mouth , make one's mouth water , melt in one's mouth , put one's foot in it or put one's foot in one's mouth , put words into one's mouth , shoot off one's mouth , straight from the horse's mouth , take the bit in one's mouth , take the bread out of one's mouth

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲