embouchure

[ ahm-boo-shoo r, ahm-boo-shoo r; French ahn-boo-shyr ]

/ ˌɑm bʊˈʃʊər, ˈɑm bʊˌʃʊər; French ɑ̃ buˈʃür /

noun, plural em·bou·chures [ahm-boo-shoo rz; ahm-boo-shoo rz; French ahn-boo-shyr] /ˌɑm bʊˈʃʊərz; ˈɑm bʊˌʃʊərz; French ɑ̃ buˈʃür/.

the mouth of a river.

the opening out of a valley into a plain.

Music.

the mouthpiece of a wind instrument.
the adjustment of a player's mouth to such a mouthpiece.

Nearby words

Origin of embouchure

1750–60; < French, equivalent to embouch(er) to put (an instrument) to one's mouth (em- em-¹ + bouche mouth < Latin bucca puffed cheek) + -ure -ure

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for embouchure

Amber lies under, or is formed upon the sand, and abounds most near the embouchure of a small river in this neighbourhood.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXLV. July, 1844. Vol. LVI.|Various
Our horses were tied in a defile; and we took our stands where we could command the embouchure of the cañon with our rifles.
The Scalp Hunters|Mayne Reid
Probably, according to Teulet, the present Sandhofer-fahrt, a little below the embouchure of the Neckar.
Essays Upon Some Controverted Questions|Thomas H. Huxley
The original name was Ellenfoot, so called from its situation at the embouchure of the river Elne with the Solway.
The Ports, Harbours, Watering-places and Picturesque Scenery of Great Britain Vol. 1|William Finden

It had shoals off its embouchure; and these, he rightly enough fancied, would induce Captain Cuffe to be wary.
The Wing-and-Wing|J. Fenimore Cooper

British Dictionary definitions for embouchure

embouchure

/ (ˌɒmbʊˈʃʊə) /

noun

the mouth of a river or valley

music

the correct application of the lips and tongue in playing a wind instrument
the mouthpiece of a wind instrument

Word Origin for embouchure

C18: from French, from Old French emboucher to put to one's mouth, from bouche mouth, from Latin bucca cheek

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for embouchure

embouchure

1760, in musical sense, from French embouchure "river mouth, mouth of a wind instrument," from en- "in" (see en- (1)) + bouche "mouth" (see bouche).