Word: mouth Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *men- Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *mn̥-tó-s Proto-Germanic *munþaz Proto-West Germanic *munþ Old English mūþ Middle English mouth English mouth 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 Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk 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 𒈨𒂊𒉌𒄿 (me-e-ni-i /⁠mēni⁠/, “face, cheek”). The verb is from Middle English mouthen, from the noun. Pronunciation: /maʊð/, /mʌʊθ/ 1. To speak; to utter. Labels: transitive Example: He mouthed his opinions on the subject at the meeting. Example: How can you get up there and mouth such clichés? 2. To represent (words or sounds) by making the actions of speech, but silently, without producing sound; to frame. Labels: transitive Example: The prompter mouthed the words to the actor, who had forgotten them. Example: She mouthed a warning to me as the teacher entered the room. 3. To move the mouth, with or without sound; to form (air or words) with the mouth, with or without sound. Labels: intransitive, transitive Example: But words are nothing to the misbelieving -- mere air mouthed into a sound. Example: There was also a close temporal contiguity between "smiling" or other "emotional" grimaces and mouthing and tonguing movements, so that it was often difficult to distinguish between mouthing and smiling. 4. Ellipsis of mouth the words; to speak insincerely. Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, figuratively Example: She [Marjorie Taylor Greene] seems to have sincerely believed the lies that shrewder players merely mouthed. 5. To utter with a voice that is overly loud or swelling. Labels: ambitransitive Example: 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. Example: This view of voice cultivation excludes all mouthing and ranting which have been thought to be necessary incidents of voice culture. 6. To exit at a mouth (such as a river mouth) Example: 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. Example: Suddenly an avalanche of stones turned loose right down a ravine and mouthed out on the road, stones large enough to knock a horse down, or larger, and a plenty of them to do a fair job on a large group. 7. To pick up or handle with the lips or mouth, but not chew or swallow. Labels: transitive Example: The fish mouthed the lure, but didn't bite. Example: She alighted and mouthed over several within a small space and a short time; and these buds were not at the bottom of the hedge; nor was she searching for a nest-site. 8. To take into the mouth; to seize or grind with the mouth or teeth; to chew; to devour. Example: 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. Example: Each contained a long, wide, solid oak table around which all who could find a space the width of his body would mouth his brown-bag grub from home. 9. To form or cleanse with the mouth; to lick, as a bear licks her cub. Example: 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. Example: Meanwhile she, and the male, mouthed over the inner surface of pot until it was as clean as could be. 10. To carry in the mouth. Example: 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. 11. To make mouths at Labels: obsolete Example: He drew the cork from his bottle..and mouthed at his companions even while he bowed to them. Example: Meanwhile, the tyrant, with untimely wit And mouthing face, derides the small one's moan, Who, all lamenting for his loss, doth sit, 12. To form a mouth or opening in. Example: The front end of the barrel has to be mouthed out conically, so that the various centre points may fit it. Example: The front collar must be mouthed out as shown, to take the second cone on the mandrel. 13. To examine the teeth of. Example: 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: No information could be found on the relationship between the productivity of ewes and the states of their mouths. While there is no doubt that the practice of “mouthing" ewes is founded on experience, the traditional standards may require modification since the adoption almost exclusively of grassland farming, particularly in the North Island.