mouthful

[ mouth-foo l ]

/ ˈmaʊθˌfʊl /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR mouthful ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural mouth·fuls.

the amount a mouth can hold.

the amount taken into the mouth at one time.

a small quantity.

Informal. a spoken remark of great truth, relevance, effectiveness, etc.: You said a mouthful!

a long word or group of words, especially one that is hard to pronounce.

Words nearby mouthful

mouth-watering, mouthbreeder, mouthbrooder, mouthed, mouthfeel, mouthful, mouthing, mouthpart, mouthpiece, mouthwash, mouthwatering

Origin of mouthful

1375–1425; late Middle English. See mouth, -ful

usage note for mouthful

See -ful.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for mouthful

It was 4:30 in the morning, I had a mouthful of blood and raw chicken and it just—you get yourself into a very strange place.
‘The Walking Dead’ Star Andrew Lincoln on the Terminus Cannibals Theory & Season Finale|Melissa Leon|March 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Swedish plane has got a mouthful of a name: the JAS 39E Gripen.
The Planet’s Best Stealth Fighter Isn’t Made in America|Bill Sweetman|March 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It was a mouthful of a lesson, but after learning it once, you never had to memorize it again.
China’s Schools Teaches Kids to Take Tests, Obey the State, and Not Much More|Junheng Li|November 30, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Food in Calabria was pride, self-sufficiency and community all mixed together in one mouthful.
A Young Chef Travels to Calabria, Italy, and Learns the Old Ways of Cooking|Curtis Stone|November 28, 2013|DAILY BEAST

But also somebody who could handle a mouthful of exposition and make the words understandable and compelling.
Homeland’s Tracy Letts, Writer of ‘August: Osage County,’ Says Oscar Mania Is Frustrating|Jason Lynch|November 5, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Just a mouthful of bread, and even that I do not get a chance to eat!
The Memoirs of Victor Hugo|Victor Hugo
Thus she was conducted almost without a mouthful of food to the frontier of France.
A Popular History of France From The Earliest Times|Francois Pierre Guillaume Guizot
He was at least sixteen feet in length, and would have made but a mouthful of poor me.
Perseverance Island|Douglas Frazar
But our big double-ended thirty-footer was more of a mouthful.
Down the Columbia|Lewis R. Freeman
We waited an hour, and gave him a mouthful of water and a handful of hay from his own pack-saddle.
From Pole to Pole|Sven Anders Hedin

British Dictionary definitions for mouthful

mouthful

/ (ˈmaʊθˌfʊl) /

noun plural -fuls

as much as is held in the mouth at one time

a small quantity, as of food

a long word or phrase that is difficult to say

British informal an abusive response

informal, mainly US and Canadian an impressive remark (esp in the phrase say a mouthful)

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

Idioms and Phrases with mouthful

mouthful

see say a mouthful.

mouthful

noun, plural mouth·fuls.

Words related to mouthful

Words nearby mouthful

Origin of mouthful

usage note for mouthful

Examples from the Web for mouthful

British Dictionary definitions for mouthful

noun plural -fuls

Idioms and Phrases with mouthful