Moustache
noun, slang ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A growth of facial hair between the nose and the upper lip.
"A moment later there entered a tall thin Englishman with a great moustache, which was a rare thing amid that clean-shaven race."
- 2 an unshaved growth of hair on the upper lip wordnet
- 3 A curly bracket, { or }. informal
"In this example, the first is a string of text that contains the name property in double curly brackets (or “mustaches”)—this is the syntax for a tag."
Example
More examples""Hrmm," mumbled Professor Takeda as he twisted his moustache."
Etymology
Used in English since the 16th century. From Middle French moustache from Italian mostaccio, from Early Medieval Latin mustācium, from Byzantine Greek μουστάκιον (moustákion), diminutive of (Doric) Ancient Greek μύσταξ (mústax, “upper lip”), of unknown origin (probably a Pre-Greek substrate). Replaced native English kemp (“moustache”), from Old English cenep.
Related phrases
More for "moustache"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.