Verb. (colloquial).—To rant.
1596. Shakspeare, Hamlet, iii. 2. If you mouth it as many of your
players do.
1759. Goldsmith, Citizen of the World, xxi. I hate to hear an actor
mouthing trifles.
1871. Lowell, Study Windows, 180. In his pompous, mouthing way of
saying it.
To give mouth, verb. phr. (common).—1. To put into words; and (2) to
speak loudly and distinctly. Also mouth it. It. dar la bocca.
1840. Dickens, Barnaby Rudge, lxv. ‘What I say in respect to the
speeches always is, Give it mouth. That’s my maxim. Give it mouth.’
1850. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Mouth it. Speak loudly.
1861. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, Bk. ii. ch. vii. ‘I have an
opinion of you, sir, to which it is not easy to give mouth.’
1883. Daily Telegraph, 4 Sep., p. 2, col. 2. ‘Black Bess,’ they
said, was nothing unless you gave it mouth, and the two remaining
verses, with the chorus, were rendered with unabated vigour.
1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 42. Give it mouth!
Down in the mouth, verb. phr. (common).—Dejected.
1608–11. Bishop Hall, Epistles, i. 6. The Roman orator was down in
the mouth; finding himself thus cheated by the money-changer.
1693. Congreve, Old Batchelor, iv. 9. Sir. J. Witt. Now am I
slapdash down in the mouth, and have not one word to say!
1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, xlix. He ... told the physician
that he was like the root of the tongue, as being cursedly down in
the mouth.
1864. Edmund Yates, Broken to Harness, x. What won’t do? asked
Prescott, with flaming face. Why, this Kate Mellon business, Jim.
It’s on hot and strong, I know. You’ve been down in the mouth all
the time she was away.
1880. A. Trollope, The Duke’s Children, xlvii. I’m sorry you’re so
down in the mouth. Why don’t you try again?
1888. Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms, xxxiii. Poor Old Jim
looks dreadful down in the mouth.
1894. George Moore, Esther Waters, xxx. I’m a bit down in the
mouth.
To laugh on the wrong (or other) side of one’s mouth (or face), subs.
phr. (colloquial).—To cry.
1714. Lucas, Gamesters, 65. But tho’ he laugh; ’twas on the wrong
side or his mouth.
1811. Lex. Bal., s.v. Laugh.
1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Laugh.
1826. Buckstone, Death Fetch, i. 4. Snapsch. (Aside.) And have a
pretty family of them about my ears the first time I’m left alone
in the dark, who would soon make me laugh on the other side of my
mouth, I fancy.
1837. Carlyle, Diamond Necklace, iii. By and bye thou wilt laugh on
the wrong side of thy face.
Mouth that says no words about it (or cannot bite), subs. phr.
(old).—The female pudendum.
1719. Durfey, Pills etc., iv. 71. That feeds the mouth that cannot
bite.
See also, All mouth; big-mouth; bone; cat; silver-spoon; lion;
water.
Mouth-bet, subs. (racing).—A verbal bet.
Mouther, subs. (pugilists’).—A blow on the mouth.
1821. The Fancy, Vol. I. p. 254. The Jew brought first blood by a
mouther.
Mouth-glue, subs. (old).—Speech.
160[?] Davies of Hereford, Wittes Pilgrimage (Grosart, 1878, ii.
h). ‘In Praise of Poesie.’ And Iudgement ioyne them fast with Art’s
Mouth-glue.
1688. Crowne, City Politics, ii. 1. As for marriage-promises, they
are but church mouth-glue, they won’t hold a couple together three
days.
Mouthing, subs. (common).—See quot.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Mouthing. Crying.
Mouthpiece, subs. (thieves’).—See quot. Fr. un lessiveur (thieves’ =
whitewasher); un médecin (= doctor: cf. malade = prisoner; l’hôpital =
prison); un parrain.
1888. Greenwood, Old People etc., 18. It was for the benefit of a
man, whose name I needn’t mention, who was ‘in trouble’ and in need
of a bit of money, the card said, to procure him a
mouthpiece,—which, perhaps you might not be aware, is another word
for a defending counsel among those sort of characters.
Mouth-Thankless, subs. phr. (Old Scots’).—The female pudendum. For
synonyms see Monosyllable.
1460–1505. Kennedy, Ane Aigit Man (Bannantyne MSS. Hunt. Soc.
Publications, p. 780–82). That ewir I scherwit mowth thankless.
d. 1555. Lyndsay, Answer to the King’s Flyting, in Wks. (Edinburgh,
1873), I. 106, l. 33. Sae sair I rew That ewir I did
mouth-thankless so persew.
15?–15?. A. Scott, Of May, in Wks. (Edinburgh, 1826). For helth of
body now have e Nocht oft to mell with thankless mowth.
Move, subs. (common).—See quots. To be up (or fly) to a move or two (or
every move on the board) = to be wide-awake.
1819. Vaux, Memoirs, s.v. Move, any action or operation in life;
the secret spring by which any project is conducted, as, There is a
move in that business which you are not down to. To be flash to
every move upon the board, is to have a general knowledge of the
world, and all its numerous deceptions.
1853. Wh. Melville, Digby Grand, xiii. The champion glared ...
putting in play all the different manœuvres of the King, which the
initiated call moves.
1891. Lic. Vict. Gaz., 16 Jan. He said he had as good as given me a
fortune, for he had made me a tip-top player, put me up to every
move upon the board, and the next time I played I should sweep it
clean.
Moveables, subs. (thieves’).—1. Furniture; and (2) see quots.
1599. Shakspeare, Henry V. ii. 8. 50. Look to my chattels and my
movables.
1607. middleton, Trick to Catch the Old One, iii. 1. He’s rich in
money, movables, and land.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Moveables.... We bit all the
Cull’s cole and moveables, we won all the man’s money, rings,
watches etc.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Moveables. Rings, watches, or any
toys of value.
1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.
Moved, adv. (American thieves’).—See quot.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Moved. Bowed to.
Mow, verb. (American).—1. To kiss.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Mow. To kiss.