embouchure
Americannoun
plural
embouchures-
the mouth of a river.
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the opening out of a valley into a plain.
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Music.
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the mouthpiece of a wind instrument.
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the adjustment of a player's mouth to such a mouthpiece.
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noun
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the mouth of a river or valley
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music
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the correct application of the lips and tongue in playing a wind instrument
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the mouthpiece of a wind instrument
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Etymology
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
Explanation
If you play the flute or trumpet, you might know that embouchure refers to the way you put your mouth on the instrument in order to make the proper sound. Sometimes the mouthpiece itself is also called an embouchure. Brass and woodwind instruments are all played by blowing into or across an opening, the embouchure. As a method of playing such instruments, embouchure is a way of holding your mouth-including lips, facial muscles, and teeth. This often involves buzzing your lips against the instrument's mouthpiece. Embouchure is a French word that means "river mouth" (from bouche, "mouth") and it used to actually refer to the mouth of a river.
Vocabulary lists containing embouchure
Bud, Not Buddy
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Music - Middle School
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Musical Instruments - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Trumpeters need to play all the time because of the embouchure and muscle memory.
From Salon • Apr. 19, 2025
As he occasionally, instinctually pursed his lips to practice the embouchure he uses on his mouthpiece, he explained that he was a different man when separated from his instrument.
From New York Times • Mar. 28, 2021
It’s usually the second one — it at least tells me what kind of strength I have in my embouchure.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 18, 2020
The embouchure, or position of lips and mouth, necessary to coax musical notes from the horn’s twisted metal is notoriously tricky.
From Washington Post • Jan. 17, 2020
Madge and I glide our slides together, reaching for C, back up for F. Sometimes when I see her pinched face in perfect embouchure, I start to giggle.
From "Muffled" by Jennifer Gennari
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
