What does "mouth" mean?
The front opening of a creature through which food is ingested.
Mouth
/maʊθ/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The front opening of a creature through which food is ingested.
- Grammar: mouth is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: oral cavity, sass, access, announce.
- Useful contrasts: ano, anus, anuses.
- Usage evidence: You took the words right out of my mouth.
How to use "mouth"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "mouth" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "mouth" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "mouth" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "mouth" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "mouth" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "oral cavity" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "mouth", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The front opening of a creature through which food is ingested.
""Open your mouth and say 'aah'," directed the doctor."
- 2 the opening of a jar or bottle wordnet
- 3 The end of a river out of which water flows into a sea or other large body of water; or the end of a tributary out of which water flows into a larger river.
"The mouth of the river is a good place to go birdwatching in spring and autumn."
- 4 the externally visible part of the oral cavity on the face and the system of organs surrounding the opening wordnet
- 5 An outlet, aperture or orifice.
"But come, Lady, we are too near the mouth of the cavern; let us seek its inmost recesses."
Show 12 more definitions
- 6 the opening through which food is taken in and vocalizations emerge wordnet
- 7 A loud or overly talkative person. slang
"My kid sister is a real mouth; she never shuts up."
- 8 an impudent or insolent rejoinder wordnet
- 9 A gossip. slang
"Siobhán, you know Donna's a mouth."
- 10 the point where a stream issues into a larger body of water wordnet
- 11 The crosspiece of a bridle bit, which enters the mouth of an animal.
- 12 an opening that resembles a mouth (as of a cave or a gorge) wordnet
- 13 A principal speaker; one who utters the common opinion; a mouthpiece. obsolete
"Every coffeehouse has some particular statesman belonging to it, who is the mouth of the street where he lives."
- 14 a person conceived as a consumer of food wordnet
- 15 Speech; language; testimony. obsolete
"that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established"
- 16 a spokesperson (as a lawyer) wordnet
- 17 A wry face; a grimace; a mow. obsolete
"Counterfeit sad looks, / Make mouths upon me when I turn my back."
Verb
- 1 To speak; to utter. transitive
"He mouthed his opinions on the subject at the meeting."
- 2 express in speech wordnet
- 3 To represent (words or sounds) by making the actions of speech, but silently, without producing sound; to frame. transitive
"The prompter mouthed the words to the actor, who had forgotten them."
- 4 articulate silently; form words with the lips only wordnet
- 5 To move the mouth, with or without sound; to form (air or words) with the mouth, with or without sound. intransitive, transitive
"But words are nothing to the misbelieving -- mere air mouthed into a sound."
Show 11 more definitions
- 6 touch with the mouth wordnet
- 7 Ellipsis of mouth the words; to speak insincerely. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, figuratively
"She [Marjorie Taylor Greene] seems to have sincerely believed the lies that shrewder players merely mouthed."
- 8 To utter with a voice that is overly loud or swelling. ambitransitive
"Those who endeavor to become eloquent by mere imitation of some celebrated model—an actor for instance—often attempt to gain this quality by altering their voice in an unnatural manner. Such a process never produces any thing but mouthing."
- 9 To exit at a mouth (such as a river mouth)
"In this part of the address the position of the principal hanging-valleys was indicated , and it was pointed out that there were two sets, namely those which mouthed into valleys that had been deepened in softer rocks, and those which mouthed into portions of main valleys that had been deepened along shatter-bolts."
- 10 To pick up or handle with the lips or mouth, but not chew or swallow. transitive
"The fish mouthed the lure, but didn't bite."
- 11 To take into the mouth; to seize or grind with the mouth or teeth; to chew; to devour.
"Sometimes I ate food that the rats had already mouthed over; picking away the edges where they had been eating and using the remainder; not with any good grace, not without qualms; but because I had nothing else to eat."
- 12 To form or cleanse with the mouth; to lick, as a bear licks her cub.
"They were sucking off whatever adhered to the floating stems and leaves of the plants. They went from plant to plant and mouthed over each branch from base to tip until the whole plant had been gone over."
- 13 To carry in the mouth.
"This transfer system continues until the young are free-swimming, which may be for another 3 or 4 days. Each time they are moved to a new pit, they are mouthed over and spat into their new crèche."
- 14 To make mouths at obsolete
"He drew the cork from his bottle..and mouthed at his companions even while he bowed to them."
- 15 To form a mouth or opening in.
"The front end of the barrel has to be mouthed out conically, so that the various centre points may fit it."
- 16 To examine the teeth of.
"Either at the shipping point or as they leave the summer range, the older ewes are “mouthed out.” That is, their mouths are examined to see if their teeth are good for another year."
Example
"You took the words right out of my mouth."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "mouth"?
Common synonyms include: oral cavity, sass, access, announce, aperture, aperture.
How do you use "mouth" in a sentence?
You took the words right out of my mouth.
How do you pronounce "mouth"?
Pronounced /maʊθ/.
Etymology
From Middle English mouth, from Old English mūþ, from Proto-West Germanic *munþ, from Proto-Germanic *munþaz (“mouth”), from Proto-Indo-European *ment- (“to chew; jaw, mouth”). Cognate with Scots mooth (“mouth”), North Frisian mös, müs, Mür (“mouth”), West Frisian mûn (“mouth”), Dutch mond (“mouth”), muide (“river mouth”) and mui (“riptide”), German Mund (“mouth”), Luxembourgish Mond (“mouth”), Danish mund (“mouth”), Faroese muður, munnur (“mouth”), Icelandic munnur (“mouth”), Swedish mun (“mouth”), Norwegian munn (“mouth”), Gothic 𐌼𐌿𐌽𐌸𐍃 (munþs, “mouth”), Latin mentum (“chin”) and mandō (“to chew”), Ancient Greek μάσταξ (mástax, “jaws, mouth”) and μασάομαι (masáomai, “to chew”), Albanian mjekër (“chin, beard”), Welsh mant (“jawbone”), Hittite [script needed] (mēni, “chin”). The verb is from Middle English mouthen, from the noun.