- Mouth organ
- Mouth Mouth (mouth), n.; pl. {Mouths} (mou[th]z). [OE. mouth,
mu[thorn], AS. m[=u][eth]; akin to D. mond, OS. m[=u][eth],
G. mund, Icel. mu[eth]r, munnr, Sw. mun, Dan. mund, Goth.
mun[thorn]s, and possibly L. mentum chin; or cf. D. muil
mouth, muzzle, G. maul, OHG. m[=u]la, Icel. m[=u]li, and Skr.
mukha mouth.]
1. 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.
[1913 Webster]
2. Hence: An opening affording entrance or exit; orifice; aperture; as: (a) The opening of a vessel by which it is filled or emptied, charged or discharged; as, the mouth of a jar or pitcher; the mouth of the lacteal vessels, etc. (b) The opening or entrance of any cavity, as a cave, pit, well, or den. (c) The opening of a piece of ordnance, through which it is discharged. (d) The opening through which the waters of a river or any stream are discharged. (e) The entrance into a harbor. [1913 Webster]
3. (Saddlery) The crosspiece of a bridle bit, which enters the mouth of an animal. [1913 Webster]
4. A principal speaker; one who utters the common opinion; a mouthpiece. [1913 Webster]
Every coffeehouse has some particular statesman belonging to it, who is the mouth of the street where he lives. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
5. Cry; voice. [Obs.] --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
6. Speech; language; testimony. [1913 Webster]
That in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. --Matt. xviii. 16. [1913 Webster]
7. A wry face; a grimace; a mow. [1913 Webster]
Counterfeit sad looks, Make mouths upon me when I turn my back. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
{Down at the mouth} or {Down in the mouth}, chapfallen; of dejected countenance; depressed; discouraged. [Obs. or Colloq.]
{Mouth friend}, one who professes friendship insincerely. --Shak.
{Mouth glass}, a small mirror for inspecting the mouth or teeth.
{Mouth honor}, honor given in words, but not felt. --Shak.
{Mouth organ}. (Mus.) (a) Pan's pipes. See {Pandean}. (b) An harmonicon.
{Mouth pipe}, an organ pipe with a lip or plate to cut the escaping air and make a sound.
{To stop the mouth}, to silence or be silent; to put to shame; to confound.
{To put one's foot in one's mouth}, to say something which causes one embarrassment.
{To run off at the mouth}, to speak excessively.
{To talk out of both sides of one's mouth}, to say things which are contradictory. [1913 Webster +PJC]
The mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. --Ps. lxiii. 11. [1913 Webster]
Whose mouths must be stopped. --Titus i. 11. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.