What does "embouchure" mean?

The use of the lips, facial muscles, tongue, and teeth when playing a wind instrument.

What is a synonym for "embouchure"?

Common synonyms include: bazoo, bell, chaps, chops, gab, gob.

//ˈɑm.bə.ʃɚ// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
The use of the lips, facial muscles, tongue, and teeth when playing a wind instrument. countable, uncountable
"you could see the twin lines running down from either side of his lower lip, etched in by the force of his embouchure, looking like extensions of his mustache."
2
the aperture of a wind instrument into which the player blows directly wordnet
3
The mouth of a river or valley. archaic, countable, uncountable
"We approached Piteå at sunset. The view over the broad embouchure of the river, studded with islands, was quite picturesque, and the town itself, scattered along the shore and over the slopes of hills made a fair appearance."

"To stop squeaking like a sick donkey and play the notes correctly, tighten your embouchure on the clarinet mouthpiece."

From French embouchure, from emboucher (“to put in one’s mouth”), from en- (“in”) + bouche (“mouth”), from Latin bucca (“cheek”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.