rictus

[rik-tuh s]

noun, plural ric·tus, ric·tus·es.

the gape of the mouth of a bird.

the gaping or opening of the mouth.

Origin of rictus

1750–60; < Latin: wide-open mouth, equivalent to rig-, variant stem of ringī to open the mouth wide + -tus suffix of v. action.

Related formsric·tal, adjectivesub·ric·tal, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for rictus

Historical Examples of rictus

Then his mouth twisted in a rictus of dreadful mirth, so wrung was he with pain, yet so overcome by what he had seen.
The Terms of Surrender
Louis Tracy
The lovely lips twisted into a rictus sneer, frightening on that smooth young face, until she got them under control.
The Tunnel Under The World
Frederik Pohl
Nor can the rictus caninus or the tortura oris have been other than spasms or oontractures of the face.
Tics and Their Treatment
Henry Meigne
His gold tooth, gleaming in the light, made his rictus of passion more venomous, more malevolent still.
The Air Trust
George Allan England
Rictus, rik′tus, n. the gape of the bill: the throat of the calyx.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R)
Various

British Dictionary definitions for rictus

rictus

noun plural -tus or -tuses

the gap or cleft of an open mouth or beak

a fixed or unnatural grin or grimace, as in horror or death

Derived Formsrictal, adjective

Word Origin for rictus

C18: from Latin, from ringī to gape

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