mouth

The mouth is that part of the face that includes the lips, the teeth, the tongue, the gums, and the areas inside of the mouth. The mouth is used for breathing, eating, and expressing one’s emotions.

• People kiss each other on the mouth.
• If you don’t breathe through your nose, you breathe through your mouth.
• When you’re finished eating, you wipe your mouth off with a napkin.
• A dentist tells his patients to open their mouths so that he can take a look at their teeth.
• A doctor tells her patients to open their mouths and say "ah."
• A scarf helps protect your mouth during extremely cold weather.

The word "mouth" can also be used as an area of a river or a cave that serves as an entrance or an exit.

• The mouth of the Mississippi River is in Louisiana where the water spills into the Gulf of Mexico.
• The mouth of the Mark Twain Cave in Hannibal, Missouri is very famous.

There are many expressions that include the word "mouth."

• Keep your mouth shut. (Don’t say anything about this subject.)
• Dorothy’s got a big mouth. (big mouth = unable to keep secrets)
• She’s really got a mouth on her. (She talks in a way that might be disrespectful or rude.)
• David mouthed off at the teacher. (mouth off = to talk back to in a distrustful manner)
• Sarah has a dirty mouth. (dirty mouth = a person who uses bad language.)
• Sarah’s mother washed her mouth out with soap because she used foul language.
• You’re putting words in my mouth. (You claim that I said something which I didn’t say.)
• Stop putting words in my mouth.
• Kids mouth the words to songs that they don’t know. (mouth the words = move the mouth without making any sound)
• A person with many children has a lot of mouths to feed.

Go to the Word of the Day section for more English vocabulary.

This page was first published on November 12, 2018.