Mouth (mouth), n.; pl.Mouths (mout͡hz). [OE. mouth, muþ, AS. mūð; akin to D. mond, OS. mūð, G. mund, Icel. muðr, munnr, Sw. mun, Dan. mund, Goth. munþs, and possibly L. mentum chin; or cf. D. muil mouth, muzzle, G. maul, OHG. mūla, Icel. mūli, 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.
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.
3. (Saddlery) The crosspiece of a bridle bit, which enters the mouth of an animal.
4. A principal speaker; one who utters the common opinion; a mouthpiece.
Every coffeehouse has some particular statesman belonging to it, who is the mouth of the street where he lives. Addison.
5. Cry; voice. Dryden.
6. Speech; language; testimony.
That in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. Matt. xviii. 16.
7. A wry face; a grimace; a mow.
Counterfeit sad looks,
Make mouths upon me when I turn my back. Shak.
Down in the mouth, chapfallen; of dejected countenance; depressed; discouraged. — 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.
The mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. Ps. lxiii. 11.
Whose mouths must be stopped. Titus i. 11.