mouth

mouth¹ W1S2 [mauθ] n plural mouths [mauðz]

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1¦(face)¦

2 keep your mouth shut

3 open your mouth

4 (you) watch your mouth

5¦(entrance)¦

6¦(river)¦

7¦(bottle/container)¦

8 big mouth

9 me and my big mouth/you and your big mouth etc

10 mouth to feed/hungry mouth

11 make your mouth water

12 down in the mouth

13 out of the mouths of babes (and sucklings)

14 be all mouth

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[: 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.

▪ The old man had a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth .

▪ Liam was fast asleep with his mouth wide open .

▪ She put her hand to her lips , trying not to laugh with her mouth full (=with food in her mouth) .

▪ She kissed him full on the mouth (=directly on the mouth) .

▪ I burnt the roof of my mouth (=the top inside part) on some hot soup.

▪ She stared at him open-mouthed (=looking very surprised or shocked) .

▪ Karen felt dry-mouthed and sick.

2.) keep your mouth shut informal

a) to not tell other people about a secret

▪ He demanded £2000 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

BrE 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

→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

mouth ²

mouth² [mauð] v [T]

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 phr v

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.