The expression “coffee break” was first attested in 1952 in glossy magazine advertisements by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.
MOUTHING
Verb
mouthing
present participle of mouth
Noun
mouthing (plural mouthings)
The act of forming a shape with the mouth, especially as part of sign language.
Ranting; passionate speech devoid of meaning.
Source: Wiktionary
MOUTH
Mouth, n.; pl. Mouths. Etym: [OE. mouth, mu, AS. m; akin to D. mond, OS. m, G. mund, Icel. mu, munnr, Sw. mun, Dan. mund, Goth. mun, and possibly L. mentum chin; or cf. D. muil mouth, muzzle, G. maul, OHG. m, Icel. m, 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:
Definition: 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)
Definition: 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. [Obs.] 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. [Obs. or Colloq.] -- 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.
Mouth, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mouthed; p. pr. & vb. n. Mouthing.]
1. To take into the mouth; to seize or grind with the mouth or teeth; to chew; to devour. Dryden.
2. To utter with a voice affectedly big or swelling; to speak in a strained or unnaturally sonorous manner. "Mouthing big phrases." Hare. Mouthing out his hollow oes and aes. Tennyson.
3. To form or cleanse with the mouth; to lick, as a bear her cub. Sir T. Browne.
4. To make mouths at. [R.] R. Blair.
Mouth, v. i.
1. To speak with a full, round, or loud, affected voice; to vociferate; to rant. I'll bellow out for Rome, and for my country, And mouth at Cæsar, till I shake the senate. Addison.
2. To put mouth to mouth; to kiss. [R.] Shak.
3. To make grimaces, esp. in ridicule or contempt. Well I know, when I am gone, How she mouths behind my back. Tennyson.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
15 March 2025
TRUNCATION
(noun) the replacement of an edge or solid angle (as in cutting a gemstone) by a plane (especially by a plane that is equally inclined to the adjacent faces)
Coffee Trivia
